JP2001159946A - Input device and portable telephone set - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an input device having an emulation function for receiving user's input instead of a key operation pert of a portable telephone set. SOLUTION: When a certain key 20c out of a plurality of keys on a keyboard 20 is depressed, a code signal generation circuit 20b generates a key code signal corresponding to the key 20c and supplies the key code signal to a code signal I/F 10k in the portable telephone set 10 through a cable 30. A CPU 10a executes processing corresponding to the key code signal received by the I/F 10k.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an input device suitable for use in a portable telephone and a portable telephone which operates in response to a key operation received by the input device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, mobile phones have become more sophisticated and multifunctional. For example, a device having a telephone directory registration function, an e-mail transmission / reception function, and the like in addition to a call function are known. In this type of mobile phone, characters such as alphabets and kana and various key codes are assigned to each key of a key operation unit, and characters can be input. However, generally, only a small number of keys, such as a numeric keypad, are provided on a mobile phone, so that an operation load is large, such as a plurality of key operations are required to input one character. From such a background, an input device for editing a mail used by connecting to a mobile phone has been developed. This input device is provided with a character input keyboard having a larger number of keys than a mobile phone and a liquid crystal display, and provides a user with an e-mail editing function. The user can operate this input device to create an e-mail to be sent, and send the e-mail via the mobile phone.

[0003]

The above-mentioned conventional input device has been developed with the aim of reducing the operation burden associated with editing an electronic mail, and the input data is used as an electronic mail file. They were transferred to the mobile phone all at once. That is, the conventional input device does not strictly accept the key input of the user instead of the key operation unit of the mobile phone, for example, to transfer the character code corresponding to the key input to the mobile phone as it is,
Control operations of the mobile phone, such as power on / off and on-hook / off-hook, cannot be performed. The present invention
Under such a background, an input device having a so-called emulation function that accepts a user's key input in place of a key operation unit of a mobile phone, and operates according to the key input in the input device An object is to provide a mobile phone.

[0004]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an input device externally connected to a portable telephone, comprising a plurality of keys for receiving an input operation by a user. A key operation section, a key signal generation circuit for detecting a key operation on the key operation section and generating a key code signal corresponding to the key operation, and a key code each time the code signal generation circuit generates a key code signal. A data output interface for transmitting a signal to the mobile phone.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the input device according to the first aspect, the key code signal includes various characters displayed on a display unit of the mobile phone and various control contents of the mobile phone. , And a table code for specifying a table indicating a correspondence between the key code, the character, and the control content.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the input device according to the first aspect, the code generation circuit changes the different key depending on whether a predetermined key is continuously pressed for a predetermined time or more. A code signal is generated.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the input device according to the first aspect, the data output interface comprises:
A predetermined carrier is modulated by the key code signal and transmitted as a radio signal to the mobile phone.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a portable telephone having a signal input interface for taking in a first key code signal corresponding to a key operation from a key operation section, wherein the portable telephone has an external part in response to the key operation. A data input terminal for inputting a second key code signal generated by the input device to the mobile phone, wherein the signal input interface receives the first key code signal and outputs the data from the input device. The second key code signal input via an input terminal is received.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the portable telephone according to the fifth aspect, the first key code signal is a signal supplied from the key operation section.
And the second key code signal includes a second code indicating that the signal is supplied from the input device, and the signal input interface includes the first code including the first code. A key code signal is taken in, and the second key code signal including the second code is taken in.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the portable telephone according to the fifth aspect, the data input terminal receives the second key code signal wirelessly transmitted from the input device. It is characterized by inputting to a mobile phone.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment, and various changes can be made within the scope of the technical idea.

A: First Embodiment A-1: Configuration First, the configuration of the first embodiment of the present invention will be described. (1) Configuration of Mobile Phone and Keyboard FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the mobile phone and the keyboard according to the first embodiment. In the figure,
Reference numeral 10 denotes a mobile phone accommodated in a mobile communication network (not shown), which receives a call service and a data communication service by performing wireless communication with a base station of the network. 20
Is a keyboard that accepts key operations by the user, and is connected to the mobile phone 10 via the cable 30.

Hereinafter, an electrical configuration of the mobile phone 10 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the mobile phone 10
PU (Central Proccessing Unit) 10a, ROM (R
ead Only Memory) 10b, RAM (Random Access)
Memory) 10c, font memory 10d, wireless communication unit 10e, audio signal processing unit 10f, speaker 10g, microphone 10h, liquid crystal driving circuit 10i, liquid crystal panel 10
j, code signal interface 10k (hereinafter, interface is referred to as I / F), code signal generation circuit 10
m, key 10n, connector 10p, clock circuit 10q
Consists of

The CPU 10a executes the control program read from the ROM 10b to execute the
0 is controlled. The ROM 10b is a read-only program memory, and stores, for example, a control program for key input control and a key code table in addition to a control program for wireless communication and wireless data communication. Here, the key code refers to numbers, characters, and symbols (hereinafter, collectively referred to as characters) displayed on the liquid crystal panel 10j, and control contents of the mobile phone 10 executed in response to key operations. This is the assigned code information. In the key code table, the characters and the control contents are registered in association with the key codes.

The RAM 10c is used as a work area when the CPU 10a executes various control programs. The font memory 10d is a read-only memory, and stores pixel pattern data for displaying various characters on the liquid crystal panel 10j.

The wireless communication unit 10e includes an antenna (not shown) and a communication control circuit for performing processing required for wireless communication. The wireless communication unit 10a performs communication control such as modulation and demodulation of a voice signal during a voice call, and performs communication control such as modulation and demodulation of a data signal during data communication.

The audio signal processing section 10f supplies a reception signal to the speaker 10g and receives a transmission signal supplied from the microphone 10h while amplifying the audio signal and performing side tone processing. The speaker 10g includes an audio signal processing unit 10f
And outputs a voice based on the reception signal supplied from the device. The microphone 10h supplies a transmission signal according to the utterance of the user to the audio signal processing unit 10f.

Each of the keys 10n is provided with a key switch (not shown), and when the key 10n is pressed, the key switch corresponding to the key 10n is turned on. The code signal generation circuit 10m scans each key switch, detects a pressed key 10n according to which key switch is turned on, and generates a key code signal based on a key code table. For this purpose, the code signal generation circuit 10m stores the key code table described above. The generated key code signal is supplied from the code signal generation circuit 10m to the code signal I / F 10k. The clock circuit 10q is the code signal generation circuit 1
Supply clock signal to 0m. This clock signal is
The key 10n is used to determine whether or not the key 10n has been continuously pressed for a predetermined time or more. Such continuous depression of the key for a certain period of time or more is hereinafter referred to as a long press of the key. The code signal I / F 10k receives the key code signal supplied from the code signal generation circuit 10m, and
This is a data input interface to be supplied to the PU 10a.

The liquid crystal drive circuit 10i includes a font memory 1
A liquid crystal drive signal corresponding to the pixel pattern data in 0d is supplied to the liquid crystal panel 10j. The pixel pattern data is read from the font memory 10d by the CPU 10a and supplied to the liquid crystal drive circuit 10i. The liquid crystal panel 10j displays various characters based on a liquid crystal drive signal supplied from the liquid crystal drive circuit 10i.

The connector 10p is a well-known 16-core connector generally provided in a portable telephone, and has a transmission speed of 6
Input / output a serial signal at 00 bps. Cable 3
Reference numeral 0 has a 16-core connector (not shown) at both ends, and these 16-core connectors are connected to the connector 10p of the mobile phone 10 and the connector of the keyboard 20.

Next, the electrical configuration of the keyboard 20 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the keyboard 20 includes a connector 20a, a code signal generation circuit 20b, and a key 20.
c and a clock circuit 20d. Connector 20
a is a 16-core connector, which outputs a serial signal at a transmission speed of 600 bps. The connector 20 is connected to a connector (not shown) at the end of the cable 30. Key 2
0c is provided with a corresponding key switch (not shown).
The key switch corresponding to c is turned on. The code signal generation circuit 20b scans each key switch, detects a pressed key 20c according to which key switch is turned on, and generates a key code signal based on a key code table. For this purpose, the code signal generation circuit 20b stores the same key code table as the key code table stored in the code signal generation circuit 10m of the mobile phone 10. The generated key code signal is supplied to the code signal I / F 10k via the connector 20a, the cable 30, and the connector 10p in this order. The clock circuit 20d supplies a clock signal to the code signal generation circuit 20b. This clock signal is used to determine whether the key 20c is long-pressed.

As described above, the code signal I / F 10k of the mobile phone 10 is supplied with the key code signal from the code signal generation circuit 10m of the mobile phone 10, and the key signal is also supplied from the code signal generation circuit 20b of the keyboard 20. A code signal is supplied. Each key code signal is generated based on the same key code table as described above. Hereinafter, the code signal generation circuit 10
m is referred to as an internal key code signal in the sense of a signal from the inside of the mobile phone 10,
The key code signal supplied from the keyboard 20 is referred to as an external key code signal in the sense of a signal from outside the mobile phone 10.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing the appearance of the mobile phone 10. As shown in the figure, a microphone 10g, a speaker 10h, a liquid crystal panel 10j, and a plurality of keys 10n are provided on the front of the mobile phone 10, and these function as a user interface for a user to perform various operations. I do. The keys 10n include a key group 10n-1 used for an operation for displaying various characters on the liquid crystal panel 10j and a key group 10n-2 used for a control operation of the mobile phone 10. Here, the control operation refers to, for example, turning on / off the power of the mobile phone 10, on-hook / off-hook, moving a cursor on the liquid crystal panel 10j, and the like.

Various characters are assigned to the key group 10n-1 as shown in the correspondence table shown in FIG.
For example, the key 100 shown in the figure includes "Kakikukeko" of Hiragana, "Kakikukeko" of Katakana, and "A"
BCabc "and the number" 2 ",
These characters are properly used depending on the input mode. Here, the input mode includes "Hiragana input mode" for inputting Hiragana, "Katakana input mode" for inputting katakana, "Alphabet input mode" for inputting alphabetic characters and symbols, and numerals. There is a “numerical input mode” for inputting characters. "Alphabet input mode"
The “number input mode” includes a “full-width mode” in which a character is displayed in full-width and a “half-width mode” in which half-width display is performed.
The “Katakana input mode” has only “Half-width mode”, and the “Hiragana mode” has only “Full-width mode”. Which of these input modes is selected is stored by the code signal generation circuit 10m.

In the mobile phone 10, a character is selected according to the input mode and the number of times each key 10n is pressed. For example, in the hiragana input mode, a key code signal is generated each time the key 100 is pressed, and “ka” → “ki” → “ku” →
An operation in which characters are sequentially selected in the order of "", "", "", "...", and then when another key 10n is pressed, the character assigned to the key 10n is displayed. Is repeated. This is the same operation in the katakana input mode and the alphabet input mode.

Referring again to FIG.
The configuration of the user interface will be described. In the figure, reference numeral 101 denotes an off-hook key for making or receiving a call, and reference numeral 102 denotes an on-hook key for disconnecting a telephone line or turning on / off a power supply. 103-1 and 10
Reference numeral 3-2 denotes keys for moving the cursor displayed on the liquid crystal panel 10j to the left and right, performing redialing and displaying a received call history. Reference numerals 104-1 and 104-2 are keys for moving a cursor displayed on the liquid crystal panel 10j up and down and for displaying conversion candidates from Hiragana to Kanji. Reference numeral 105 denotes a determination key for instructing determination of various inputs. For example, when a key 105 is pressed after displaying a conversion candidate from Hiragana to Kanji, the conversion to the conversion candidate is determined. .

Reference numeral 106 denotes an input mode switching key for switching the input mode. For example, every time the input mode switching key 106 is pressed, “numerical input mode” → “hiragana input mode” → “katakana input mode” → “alphabet input mode” → “number input mode”
... The input mode transitions. 107
Is a clear key for erasing a character displayed on the liquid crystal panel 10j. Reference numeral 108 denotes a “call mode” for making a wireless call on the mobile phone 10.
And "data communication mode" for wireless data communication
Is a communication mode switching key for switching between.

Next, the user interface of the keyboard 20 will be described. FIG. 4 is a top view showing the appearance of the keyboard 20. As shown in FIG.
A plurality of keys 20c are provided on the upper surface of the “0”.
Of the keys 20c, 201 is an off-hook key for making or receiving a call. When the off-hook key 201 is pressed, a key code signal including the same key code as when the off-hook key 101 of the mobile phone 10 is pressed is generated. Reference numeral 202 denotes an on-hook key for turning on / off the power or disconnecting the communication line. When the on-hook key 202 is pressed, a key code signal including the same key code as when the on-hook key 102 of the mobile phone 10 is pressed is generated. Is to be generated.

Reference numerals 203-1 and 203-2 denote the liquid crystal panel 10
These keys are used to move the cursor displayed on j to the left and right, and to display redials and received calls. Key 203
When -1 is pressed, a key code signal including the same key code as when the key 103-1 of the mobile phone 10 is pressed is generated. When key 203-1 is pressed, a key code signal including the same key code as when key 103-2 of mobile phone 10 is pressed is generated. 204-1 and 204-2 are liquid crystal panels 10j
Is used to move the cursor up and down and to display conversion candidates from Hiragana to Kanji. Key 204
When -1 is pressed, a key code signal including the same key code as when the key 104-1 of the mobile phone 10 is pressed is generated. When the key 204-1 is pressed, a key code signal including the same key code as when the key 104-2 of the mobile phone 10 is pressed is generated.

Reference numeral 205 denotes a key for instructing determination of various inputs. When this key is pressed, a key code signal including the same key code as when the key 105 of the mobile phone 10 is pressed is generated. Has become. 206 is
An input mode switching key for switching an input mode.
A key code signal including the same key code as when key 6 is pressed is generated. Here, the input mode of the keyboard 20 is the same as the input mode of the mobile phone 10, and which of the input modes is selected is stored by the code signal generation circuit 20b. Reference numeral 207 denotes a clear key for deleting a character displayed on the liquid crystal panel 10j.
When this key is pressed, a key code signal including the same key code as when the key 107 of the mobile phone 10 is pressed is generated. 208 is the mobile phone 1
0 is a communication mode switching key for switching between a "call mode" and a "data communication mode". When the key is pressed, a key code signal including the same key code as when the key 108 of the mobile phone 10 is pressed Is generated.

Each key constituting the key group 200 is:
These are keys for inputting various characters. The key group 200 corresponds to the key group 10n-1 of the mobile phone 10, and the same character is used regardless of whether a character is input using the key group 200 or a character is input using the key group 10n-1. When inputting, a key code signal including the same key code is generated.

(2) Format of Key Code Signal Next, the format of the key code signal will be described. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a format of the key code signal. As shown in the figure, the key code signal includes a serial signal header, a serial signal type code, a table type code, and a key code.

The serial signal header consists of a group of 8 bits indicating that the key code signal is a serial signal. The serial signal type code is a code for distinguishing various serial signals used in the mobile phone 10, and is composed of a 16-bit group. The serial type code “00000010” shown in FIG.
00000001 "indicates an external key code signal. On the other hand, the internal key code signal is "0000
0001000000010 ".

The table type code consists of a group of 8 bits indicating a key code table to be referred to when specifying a character designated by a key operation or the content of a control operation. The “ABCD” portion of “0000 ABCD” shown in FIG.
Bits are placed.

The key code is composed of a 16-bit group for specifying the character and the content of the control operation on the key code table. "0000a7a6a5" shown in FIG.
In the “a7a6a5a4” part and the “a3a2a1a0” part of “a4” and “0000a3a2a1a0”, four bits each consisting of “1” or “0” are arranged.

Here, the relationship between the table type code and the key code table is as shown in a correspondence table shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, there are four types of key code tables: a half-width table, a full-width table, a control table, and a long-press table. For example, the “ABCD” portion of the table type code “0000 ABCD” is “0”
In the case of “001”, it means that the table type code indicates “half-width table”.

(3) Contents Registered in Key Code Table Next, contents registered in each key code table will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing registered contents of a half-width table, FIG. 8 is a diagram showing registered contents of a full-width table, FIG. 9 is a diagram showing registered contents of a control table, and FIG. It is a figure showing contents. Here, in FIGS.
"A3-a0" and "a7-a4" written on each table
Means “a3 to a0” and “a7 to a4” included in the key code in the key code signal shown in FIG. 5, respectively. Further, “(1), (2)... (E) of“ a3 to a0 ”
(F) ”is“ 000 ”as shown in the correspondence table shown in FIG.
.., “0010”..., “1111”. For example, “(1)” of “a3 to a0” means that the part of “a3a2a1a0” is “0001”. In addition, "(1)" of "a7-a4"
(2)... (E) and (f) ”are similarly“ 000 ”.
.., “0010”..., “1111”.

In the half-width table shown in FIG. 7, half-width characters and key codes assigned to the characters are registered in association with each other. For example, the table type code in the key code signal is “00000001”
And the key code is "0000000100000000000"
In the case of “1”, “a3 to a0” on the half-width table is “000”
“1”, which is “1”, and “a7-a4” are “000”.
The character "A" is described in the column where the column of "(1)" which is "1" intersects.

Next, in the full-width table shown in FIG. 8, full-width characters and key codes assigned to the characters are registered in association with each other. For example, if the table type code in the key code signal is “000000”
10 "and the key code is" 0000000100000 "
010 ”,“ a3 to a0 ”on the full-width table are set to“ 00 ”.
01 "and" a7-a4 "are" 001 ".
The character "?" Is described in a column where the column of "(2)" which is "0" intersects.

Next, in the control table shown in FIG. 9, control contents and key codes assigned to the control contents are registered in association with each other. “↑” shown in the figure indicates the upward movement of the cursor. This is the control content when the key 104-1 of the mobile phone 10 or the key 204-1 of the keyboard 20 is pressed. Similarly, “↓”, “→”, and “←” indicate the movement of the cursor in the direction of the arrow, respectively.
-2, 103-1 and 103-2 or control contents when keys 204-2, 203-1 and 203-2 of the keyboard 20 are pressed.

The "on-hook" shown in the figure indicates disconnection of the line, which is the control content when the key 102 of the mobile phone 10 or the key 202 of the keyboard 20 is pressed. “Off-hook” indicates an outgoing call or an incoming call, which is the control content when the key 101 of the mobile phone 10 or the key 201 of the keyboard 20 is pressed. Also, “i1” shown in FIG.
“I5” and “f1” to “f30” indicate various controls such as determination of input content, switching of input mode, clearing of input content, and switching of communication mode. These are the control contents when the corresponding key 10n or key 20c is pressed.

Next, the long press table shown in FIG.
The control content by the long press and the key code assigned to the control content are registered in association with each other. “Character reduction” and “character enlargement” shown in the figure respectively indicate a reduced display and an enlarged display of the character displayed on the liquid crystal panel 10j. These are mobile phone 1
0 key 103-1, 103-2 and 20 of the keyboard 20
Control contents when 3-1 and 203-2 are long-pressed.
In addition, “power on / off” shown in the figure indicates power on / off of the mobile phone 10. This is the control content when the on-hook key 102 of the mobile phone 10 and the on-hook key 202 of the keyboard 20 are pressed for a long time. That is, it depends on whether or not the keys 103-1 and 103-2 of the mobile phone 10 and 203-1 and 203-2 of the keyboard 20, the on-hook key 102 of the mobile phone 10 and the on-hook key 202 of the keyboard 20 are long-pressed. , A key code signal including a different table type code is generated.

As described above, the code signal generation circuit 10m of the mobile phone 10 and the code signal generation circuit 20b of the keyboard 20 respectively store the key code tables shown in FIGS. A key code signal is generated by referring to each table according to the operation. The CPU 10a is stored in the ROM 106.
The contents indicated by the key code signal supplied from the code signal I / F 10k are grasped and processed by referring to the key code tables shown in FIGS.

A-2: Operation Next, the operation of the first embodiment having the above configuration will be described. In the first embodiment, the user operates the keyboard 2
By operating the 0 key, various characters are input to the mobile phone 10, the cursor is moved, and the power of the mobile phone 10 is turned on / off by long-pressing the key. Hereinafter, the user operates the keyboard 20 to (1) input a character, (2) move a cursor,
(3) The operation in the case of instructing power on / off by long press will be described.

(1) Character Input First, the operation of the code generation circuit 20b at the time of character input will be described with reference to the flow shown in FIG. The user displays a character input screen such as an electronic mail creation screen or a telephone directory registration screen on the liquid crystal panel 10j of the mobile phone 10 by operating a predetermined key. Then, for example, it is assumed that the user sets the full-width hiragana mode by pressing the input mode switching key and presses the key 209 shown in FIG. 4 to input the character "A". Step Sa
In 1, the code signal generation circuit 20b scans each key switch and determines whether the key switch is turned on. Here, key switch-on is detected in response to depression of the key 209, so that the determination result in step Sa1 is "Yes", and the process of the code signal generation circuit 20b proceeds to step Sa2.

In step Sa2, the code signal generation circuit 20b outputs the key 20c whose key switch has been turned on.
Is a key for character input. Here, since the key 209 is included in the key group 200 for character input, this step Sa2
Is "Yes" and the code signal generation circuit 2
The process of 0b proceeds to step Sa3.

In step Sa3, the code signal generation circuit 20b generates an external key code signal with reference to the key code table. That is, the code signal generation circuit 20
b refers to the full-width table shown in FIG. 8, refers to the bit group of “a3 to a0” and “a7 to a4” in the column of “a” corresponding to the key 209, and sets the key code to “000000001000”.
0000 "and set the table type code to" 0000 ".
0001 "and the serial signal header" 11
110010 "and a serial signal type code" 000000000000000001 "indicating an external key code signal
To generate an external key code signal.

Next, the process of the code signal generation circuit 20b proceeds to step Sa4. In step Sa4, the code signal generation circuit 20b transmits the generated external key code signal to the mobile phone 10 via the connector 20a.
When this process ends, the process of the code signal generation circuit 20b returns to Step Sa1.

Code signal generation circuit 20 of keyboard 20
The operation of b is as described above. However, even when the code signal generation circuit 10m of the mobile phone 10 generates the key code signal, the serial signal code is "00000001000000010" indicating the internal key code signal. Except for this, the same operation as described above is performed. That is, the code signal generation circuit 10m detects the ON of the corresponding key switch in response to the user pressing the key 10n, and generates an internal key code signal by referring to the key code table corresponding to the input mode. Further, it supplies the generated internal key code signal to the code signal I / F 10 k of the mobile phone 10.

Next, the CPU 10a of the mobile phone 10 at the time of character input will be described with reference to the flow shown in FIG.
The operation of will be described. In FIG.
In step 1, it is determined whether an external key code signal or an internal key code signal has been supplied, and the process proceeds to the next process based on the determination. That is, in the same step, the CPU 10a
Accepts whether the supplied key code signal is an external key code signal or an internal key code signal. Therefore, for example, when an external key code signal and an internal key code signal are supplied alternately, the CPU 10a receives these key code signals on a first-come, first-served basis, and performs a process described below for each key code signal. I will go. Here, since an external key code signal is supplied from the keyboard 20 via the code signal I / F 10k, the determination result of step Sb1 is “Yes”.
And the processing of the CPU 10a proceeds to step Sb2.

In step Sb2, the CPU 10a
Refers to the table type code in the key code signal,
It is determined whether or not the signal is related to character display. That is, if the table type code is “00000001” indicating a half-width table or “00000010” indicating a full-width table, it is determined that the signal is related to character display, and “0000” indicating a control table is determined.
011 ”or“ 000010 ”indicating a long-press table
If "01", it is determined that the signal is not a signal related to character display. Here, since the table type code is “00000010” indicating a full-width table, it is determined that the signal is related to character display, and the processing of the CPU 10a proceeds to step Sb3.

In step Sb3, the CPU 10a
Reads the pixel pattern data of the character indicated by the key code signal from the font memory 10d. here,
The CPU 10a refers to the full-width table based on the table type code “00000010” in the key code signal, and displays the key code “000000010” on the table.
The character “a” indicated by “0000001” is specified, and pixel pattern data for displaying the character “a” is read from the font memory 10d.

Next, the processing of the CPU 10a proceeds to step S
Proceed to b4. In step Sb4, the CPU 10a
Indicates that the read pixel pattern data is
j. The liquid crystal driving circuit 10i supplies a liquid crystal driving signal corresponding to the pixel pattern data to the liquid crystal panel 10j, and the liquid crystal panel 10j displays a character based on the liquid crystal driving signal. When this process ends, the process of the CPU 10a returns to step Sb1. Thus, a character is displayed on liquid crystal panel 10j in response to a key operation by the user.

(2) Cursor Movement Next, the operation of the code generation circuit 20b at the time of cursor movement will be described. In FIG. 12, a case where the user presses the key 203-2 to move the cursor displayed on the character input screen to the right will be described as an example. When the code signal generation circuit 20b detects that the key switch is turned on in response to the pressing of the key 203-2, the result of the determination in step Sa1 is "Yes", and the processing of the code signal generation circuit 20b proceeds to step Sa2.

In step Sa2, the key 203-2 is not included in the key group 200 for character display, so that the result of the determination in step Sa2 is "No", and the processing of the code signal generation circuit 20b proceeds to step Sa5.
Proceed to.

In step Sa5, the code signal generation circuit 20b starts time counting based on the clock signal supplied from the clock circuit to determine whether or not the key 20c is pressed for a long time. Then, the code signal generation circuit 20b determines that the key switch is long-pressed when the key switch is in the ON state for, for example, two seconds or more. Here, since it is not a long press, the determination result in step Sa5 is “No”, and the process proceeds to step Sa6.

In step Sa6, the code signal generation circuit 20b generates an external key code signal with reference to the control table. Here, the code signal generation circuit 20b
Refers to the control table shown in FIG. 9, refers to the bit group of “a3 to a0” and “a7 to a4” corresponding to the key 203-2, and sets the key code to “000001000000000000”.
1 ”and the table type code is“ 000000001 ”.
1 ", and a serial signal header and a serial signal type code are added thereto to generate an external key code signal.

Next, the processing of the code signal generation circuit 20b proceeds to step Sa4, and transmits the generated external key code signal to the mobile phone 10 via the connector 20a. Then, the processing of the code signal generation circuit 20b is performed in step Sa.
Return to 1.

Next, the operation of the CPU 10a of the mobile phone 10 at the time of moving the cursor will be described with reference to the flow shown in FIG. In the figure, step Sb1
Then, since an external key code signal is supplied from the keyboard 20, the result of the determination in step Sb1 is "Yes", and the processing of the CPU 10a proceeds to step Sb2.

In step Sb2, the CPU 10a
Refers to the key code signal and determines whether the signal is related to character display. Here, since it is not a signal related to character display, the process of the CPU 10a proceeds to step Sb5.

In step Sb5, the CPU 10a
Performs processing according to the key code in the key code signal. Here, the CPU 10a refers to the control table indicated by the table type code “00000001” and sets the key code “0000100000000001”
Is recognized as a cursor rightward movement, and in response to this, the liquid crystal drive circuit 10i is instructed to move the cursor display rightward. Then, the processing of the CPU 10a is performed in step Sb.
Return to 1. In this way, the cursor is moved on the liquid crystal panel 10j in accordance with the key operation by the user. Other control processing, for example, processing such as calling or receiving a call, is also performed according to the same flow as described above.

(3) Power On / Off by Long Pressing of Key Next, referring to the flow of FIG. 12, the operation of the code generation circuit 20b at the time of long pressing of the key will be described after the user turns off the power of the mobile phone 10. An example in which the on-hook key 202 is pressed for two seconds or more to turn on the power will be described. In step Sa1, the code signal generation circuit 2
0b detects that the key switch has been turned on in response to the depression of the on-hook key 202, and the determination result in step Sa1 is "Yes", and the processing of the code signal generation circuit 20b proceeds to step Sa2.

In step Sa2, since the on-hook key 202 is not included in the key group 200 for character display, the result of the determination in step Sa2 is "No", and the process of the code signal generation circuit 20b proceeds to step Sa.
Go to 5.

In step Sa5, the code signal generation circuit 20b determines whether or not a long press is performed.
Time counting is started based on a clock signal supplied from a clock circuit. Here, the code signal generation circuit 20b detects that the key switch is on for more than 2 seconds, and thus determines that the key switch is long-pressed, and proceeds to step Sa7.

In step Sa7, the code signal generation circuit 20b refers to the long-press table and sets the key code to "00001110000" based on the bit groups "a3 to a0" and "a7 to a4" corresponding to the on-hook key 202.
00010 ”and the table type code is“ 0000 ”.
1001 ", and a serial signal header and a serial signal type code are added to these to generate an external key code signal.

Next, the process of the code signal generation circuit 20b proceeds to step Sa4, and transmits the generated external key code signal to the mobile phone 10 via the connector 20a. Then, the processing of the code signal generation circuit 20b is performed in step Sa.
Return to 1.

Next, the operation of the CPU 10a of the mobile phone 10 when the key is pressed for a long time will be described with reference to the flow shown in FIG. In FIG. 7, in step Sb1, a key code signal is supplied from the keyboard 20, so that the determination result in step Sb1 is “Yes” and C
The process of the PU 10a proceeds to Step Sb2.

In step Sb2, the CPU 10a
Refers to the key code signal and determines whether the signal is related to character display. Here, since it is not a signal related to character display, the process of the CPU 10a proceeds to step Sb5.

In step Sb5, the CPU 10a
Performs the operation of the content indicated by the key code signal. Here, the CPU 10a refers to the long-press table in FIG. 10 indicated by the table type code “00001001” in the key code signal, and refers to the key code “00001110000”.
00010 "is determined to be power on / off. When the power of the mobile phone 10 is on, the power is turned off, and when the power is off, the power is turned on. Here, since the power is turned on from off, the CPU 1
0a supplies power to each part of the mobile phone 10 from a power supply unit (not shown). Then, the processing of the CPU 10a returns to step Sb1.

As described above, according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the keyboard 20 replaces the key 10c of the mobile phone 10 with various key operations such as character input, cursor movement, and power on / off. Can be accepted.

B: Second Embodiment Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the above-described first embodiment, the mobile phone 10 and the keyboard 20 are connected by the cable 30, and the keyboard 20 transmits a key code signal to the mobile phone 10 via the cable 30. Then, the keyboard 20 wirelessly transmits a key code signal to the mobile phone 10.

B-1: Configuration First, the configuration of the second embodiment will be described. FIG.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a mobile phone 10 and a keyboard 20 according to a second embodiment. In this figure, the same components as those in the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1, and the description is omitted. The difference between the second embodiment shown in FIG. 14 and the first embodiment shown in FIG.
The mobile phone 10 includes a light receiving unit 10 instead of the connector 10n.
r and a demodulation circuit 10s, and the keyboard 20 has a light emitting unit 20e and a modulation circuit 20f instead of the connector 20a.

The modulation circuit 20f of the keyboard 20 modulates the carrier based on the key code signal supplied from the code signal generation circuit 20b, and supplies the modulated light to the light emitting section 20e. The light emitting unit 20e transmits the modulated carrier wave as infrared light. On the other hand, the light receiving unit 10r of the mobile phone 10 receives the infrared ray transmitted from the light emitting unit 23e of the keyboard 20,
The signal is supplied to the demodulation circuit 10s. The demodulation circuit 10s supplies a key code signal obtained by demodulating the supplied infrared ray to the code signal I / F 10k.

B-2: Operation The operation of the second embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment except that the key code signal is transmitted from the code signal generation circuit 20b to the connector 20.
a, the key code signal is supplied from the code signal generation circuit 20b to the modulation circuit 2b instead of being supplied to the code signal I / F 10k via the cable 30, the connector 10p in order.
0f, the light emitting unit 20e, the light receiving unit 10r, and the demodulation circuit 10s are sequentially supplied to the code signal I / F 10k via the demodulation circuit 10s.

As described above, according to the second embodiment of the present invention, the keyboard 20 wirelessly transmits the key code signal to the mobile phone 10, so that the user does not need to connect the mobile phone 10 and the keyboard 20. Also, key operations can be performed using the keyboard 20.

C: Modifications C-1: Form of Keyboard 20 In the embodiment, the arrangement shown in FIG. 4 is presented as an example of the key arrangement of the keyboard 20, but is not limited to such an arrangement. Instead, for example, the number of keys may be more or less. Alternatively, an input device may be used in which each key 20c of the keyboard 20 is displayed on the liquid crystal panel, and a user performs a key operation by touching each key displayed on the panel.

C-2: Mobile phone 10 and keyboard 20
In addition, the cable 30 is not necessarily used to connect the mobile phone 10 and the keyboard 20. For example, the connector 10p of the keyboard 20 and the mobile phone 10
The connector 20a may be configured to be directly connectable to each other. Then, a key code signal is supplied from the keyboard 20 to the mobile phone 10 via the connector 20a and the connector 10p connected to each other.

[0078]

As described above, according to the present invention, the input device generates a key code signal corresponding to the key operation by the user and transmits the key code signal to the mobile phone, thereby emulating the operation unit of the mobile phone. It becomes possible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of a mobile phone and a keyboard according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing the appearance of the mobile phone according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a correspondence table between keys and various characters of the mobile phone according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a top view showing the appearance of the keyboard according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a format of a key code signal according to the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a correspondence table between a table type code in a key code signal and each key code table according to the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing registered contents of a half-width table according to the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing registered contents of a full-width table according to the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing registered contents of a control table according to the embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing registered contents of a long-press table according to the embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the correspondence between key codes and bit groups in the key code table according to the embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing an operation of the code generation circuit of the keyboard according to the embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the operation of the CPU of the mobile phone according to the embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of a mobile phone and a keyboard according to a modification.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 10 mobile phone (mobile phone) 10a CPU 10b ROM 10c RAM 10d font memory 10e wireless communication unit 10f audio signal processing unit 10g Speaker 10h Microphone 10i Liquid crystal drive circuit 10j Liquid crystal panel 10k Keypad interface 10m Code signal generation circuit 10n Key 10p Connector 20 Keyboard ( Input device) 20a Connector (data output interface) 20b Code signal generation circuit (code signal generation circuit) 20c Key (key operation unit) 30 Cable

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat II (reference) H04Q 7/38 G06F 3/023 310A H04M 1/21 H04B 7/26 109M 1/247 1/725 F term (reference) 5B020 CC01 DD02 FF23 KK03 KK06 KK13 KK23 5K023 AA07 BB11 GG04 GG07 GG15 5K027 AA11 BB02 5K067 AA34 BB04 EE02 EE03 KK17

Claims (7)

[Claims] An input device externally connected to a mobile phone, comprising: a key operation unit having a plurality of keys for receiving an input operation by a user; a key operation on the key operation unit being detected; A code signal generation circuit for generating a corresponding key code signal, and a data output interface for transmitting the key code signal to the mobile phone every time the code signal generation circuit generates a key code signal. Input device. 2. The input device according to claim 1, wherein the key code signal includes a key code assigned to each of various characters displayed on a display unit of the mobile phone and various control contents of the mobile phone. An input device comprising: a table code for specifying a table indicating a correspondence between the key code and the character or the control content. 3. The input device according to claim 1, wherein the code generation circuit generates a different key code signal depending on whether a predetermined key is continuously pressed for a predetermined time or more. Characteristic input device. 4. The input device according to claim 1, wherein the data output interface modulates a predetermined carrier with the key code signal and transmits the modulated carrier as a wireless signal to the mobile phone. 5. A first function corresponding to a key operation from a key operation unit.
A data input terminal for inputting a second key code signal generated by an input device external to the mobile phone in response to a key operation to the mobile phone. Wherein the signal input interface receives the first key code signal and receives the second key code signal input from the input device via the data input terminal. Phone. 6. The mobile phone according to claim 5, wherein the first key code signal includes a first code indicating that the signal is a signal supplied from the key operation unit, and the second key code. The signal includes a second code indicating that the signal is a signal supplied from the input device, and the signal input interface captures the first key code signal including the first code, and receives the second key code signal. A mobile phone for receiving the second key code signal including a code. 7. The mobile phone according to claim 5, wherein the data input terminal receives the second key code signal wirelessly transmitted from the input device, and inputs the second key code signal to the mobile phone. Mobile phone characterized by the following.