JP2003061146A - Mobile phone and network system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mobile phone that utilizes the Bluetooth and the VoIP so as to attain making speech in a plurality of communication forms thereby reducing the communication cost and the power consumption. SOLUTION: The network of this invention includes a cellular communication means that communicates a voice signal with a wireless base station 70, a Bluetooth communication means that automatically recognizes an electronic device entering a wireless range, connects with the electronic device in a data communication enabled way to configure a personal network, a voice transmission reception function that uses data communication via the personal network to transmit/receive voice data substantially in real time, a first speech mode execution means that executes a cellular speech mode as a speech mode through communication with the wireless base station 70 and a second speech mode execution means that executes an Internet speech mode where a speech is made via the Internet through connection to the electronic device 40 in the personal network and accessible to the Internet and the voice transmission reception function.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a data communication technique and, for example, to a technique useful when applied to a mobile phone equipped with a short-range wireless communication means conforming to a wireless communication standard called Bluetooth.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, various electronic devices have been equipped with communication means conforming to the Bluetooth standard (hereinafter simply referred to as Bluetooth), and development of a system for connecting these electronic devices to a small range network called a piconet has been advanced. Has been. Similarly, mobile phones (PHS: Personal H
Also, including the andy Phone System), the development of models equipped with Bluetooth is in progress. Bluetooth allows 1 Mbps data communication between electronic devices by short-range wireless communication in the 2.4 GHz band, and when a new Bluetooth-equipped device is added to the wireless range forming the network, the device is recognized. It has a function of automatically connecting to a network.

In recent years, VoIP (Voice over Inter
Practical application of a call system using the Internet called "net Protocol" has been attempted. This system
A voice call is made by exchanging voice data in real time with peer terminals using an information processing terminal capable of inputting and outputting voice. The call destination is designated by designating the address information of the other party's terminal such as the IP address. It is also possible to access the server computer in which the address information is stored in a database and retrieve the address information of the other party's terminal from the ID information such as name and telephone number.

Also, in a call using a general subscriber line, a system called an Internet phone using VoIP has been put into practical use. In this system,
A user uses a general telephone to make a call with the other party, but the call cost can be reduced by using the Internet between arbitrary access points connecting the two. The access point is provided with a server computer that packetizes voice signals and transmits / receives them via the Internet.

Also, by combining the above techniques, it is possible to make a call between an information processing terminal connected to the Internet and a general telephone connected to a subscriber line.

[0006]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present inventors have examined a new communication mode of a mobile phone using the above Bluetooth and VoIP. As a conventional technology capable of making a call in a plurality of communication modes, there are a public mode for making a call by communicating with a wireless base station and a home mode for making a call through a subscriber line using a connection device called a home station. There was a PHS with.

The problems of such PHS are as follows. That is, such PHS
Since the same wireless system is used in the public mode and the home mode, the power consumption cannot be reduced even in the home mode. Further, switching between the public mode and the home mode requires a complicated operation for the user, and when the user forgets to switch the mode and goes out in the home mode, an outside line call cannot be received. Is.

The object of the present invention is to provide Bluetooth and Vo.
An object of the present invention is to provide a mobile phone capable of making a call in a plurality of communication modes by using IP and thereby reducing communication cost and power consumption.

The above and other objects and novel features of the present invention will be apparent from the description of this specification and the accompanying drawings.

[0010]

The typical ones of the inventions disclosed in the present application will be outlined below. That is, a cellular communication means for communicating a voice signal with a wireless base station, and a short-range wireless communication means for automatically recognizing an electronic device that has entered a wireless range and forming a personal network by connecting to the electronic device so that data communication is possible. ,
A voice transmitting / receiving function for transmitting and receiving voice data in real time by data communication via the personal network; a first call mode executing means for executing a cellular call mode for making a call by communicating with the wireless base station; And a second telephone call mode executing means for executing an internet telephone call mode in which a telephone call is performed via the internet by the voice transmission / reception function.

Preferably, a monitoring function for monitoring the connection status of other devices in the personal network, and a determination means for determining whether or not to shift to the Internet call mode based on the monitoring result are preferable.

More preferably, a selector for switching connection between a microphone and a speaker for a call and an AD converter for converting a voice signal between analog and digital and a DA converter is provided, and these are used in both the cellular call mode and the Internet call mode. It is recommended that the configuration be set to.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a suitable mobile phone to which the present invention is applied. The mobile phone 1 of this embodiment has a small range of network with peripheral devices having a similar communication function by short-distance wireless communication in addition to the function of an ordinary mobile phone that communicates through a public network by communicating with a wireless base station. Is equipped with a Bluetooth communication function.

The mobile phone 1 includes a cellular RF module 2 for transmitting and receiving signals in a frequency band used for communication with a wireless base station, digital-analog conversion of voice signals, and codec / decoding processing for cellular communication. Cellular baseband unit 12 that performs baseband signal processing, Bluetooth RF module 3 that transmits and receives signals in the frequency band used for Bluetooth communication, Bluetooth baseband unit 15 that performs Bluetooth data processing in the baseband, and cellular baseband CPU that controls both the control unit and the Bluetooth baseband unit in parallel
(Central Processing Unit) 13, dual-purpose CPU 13
Provides a working memory space and a communication data buffer space, and also stores a memory unit 4 storing software executed by the dual-purpose CPU 13, an antenna 5 for cellular communication, an antenna 6 for Bluetooth, a speaker 7 and a microphone 8. It is provided.

Although not particularly limited, the cellular baseband unit 12 and the dual-purpose CPU 1 of the above-mentioned configuration are included.
3. The Bluetooth baseband unit 15 is formed on one semiconductor chip such as single crystal silicon, and constitutes the communication control LSI 10.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal structure of the communication control LSI 10. Cellular baseband section 12
Includes an AD / DA converter 2 for converting a voice signal input / output to / from the speaker 7 and the microphone 8 between digital and analog.
1. Multiplexer 22 and demultiplexer 23 that can be switched to the side of CPU 13 or Bluetooth baseband unit 15 that also functions as a connection with AD / DA converter 21, protocol processing required for cellular communication such as compression / decompression and packetization of voice data There is provided a channel codec 24 for performing the above, a modulation / demodulation function circuit 25 for modulating a baseband signal and sending the modulated signal to the cellular RF module 2, and vice versa. The dual-purpose CPU 13 outputs a control signal for switching the selection between the multiplexer 22 and the demultiplexer 23 based on a predetermined condition.

Further, the audio data input from the demultiplexer 23 is compressed by software processing and output to the Bluetooth baseband unit 15, and conversely, the compressed audio data input from the Bluetooth baseband unit 15 is expanded by software processing. It also has a function of outputting to the multiplexer 22. The dual-purpose CPU 13 is
Signals are exchanged with an external block through the peripheral circuit 14 that controls input / output of signals. The software processing of the dual-purpose CPU 13 realizes the first call mode executing means and the second call mode executing means.

The Bluetooth base band section 15 includes
A link controller 28 is provided which performs a series of processes for mutual connection with other devices by Bluetooth communication. In addition, the multiplexer 22 and the demultiplexer 23
The voice data is directly input / output between the link controller 28 and the link controller 28. In Bluetooth, a communication protocol for exchanging voice data in real time is specified in addition to data communication, and the link controller 28 exchanges signals in accordance with the communication protocol for each data communication including such a communication protocol. Voice data is also used for CP
Bluetooth baseband part 1 directly without going through U13
5, the voice signal input / output from the speaker 7 or the microphone 8 is converted into voice data in real time and transmitted / received to / from another device by Bluetooth communication without increasing the processing load of the dual-purpose CPU 13. Is possible.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a system configuration for making a call in two call modes using the mobile phone of the embodiment. The mobile phone 1 is capable of constructing a personal network (so-called piconet) within a short-range wireless range by the Bluetooth communication function. As shown in FIG.
For example, when the headset 60 having the same Bluetooth communication function is in this wireless range, the mobile phone 1 automatically recognizes the headset 60 and interconnects them by wireless communication. As a result, when a call is made using the mobile phone 1, it becomes possible to talk through the headset 60.

In the cellular call mode, which is a general call mode of the mobile phone 1, the wireless base station 70 forming the public network and the mobile phone 1 perform wireless communication, so that a call with another phone is performed. .

In the mobile phone 1 of this embodiment, a call can be made in the Internet call mode which is another call mode. In the Internet call mode, a communication device capable of connecting to the Internet (gateway device 40 in the example of FIG. 3) and the mobile phone 1 are connected by Bluetooth communication, and the communication device performs data communication with a partner device via the Internet. A call is made by performing. In addition to the Bluetooth communication function and the Internet connection means, the above communication device needs to have a VoIP function for exchanging voice data in real time with a device of a call destination through the Internet.

Here, the gateway device 40, which is an example of the communication device, will be briefly described. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of this gateway device. The gateway device 40 is a device that forms a home network by connecting home appliances and various information devices to the network in addition to the Bluetooth communication function and the Internet connection means. In FIG. 4, 40 is a main body of the gateway device, 41 is a main processor such as a one-chip microcomputer, 42 is a control unit for performing Bluetooth communication, 42a is an antenna for Bluetooth communication, 4
3 is a PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card In)
an interface of various memory cards such as a ternational association card and a multimedia card (MMC), 44 is a liquid crystal display unit for displaying processing contents and error contents when an error occurs, 45 is a display control unit for controlling the display, 46 is an IEEE that controls the connection of information home appliances, etc.
(Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineer
s) 1394 control unit, 47 is a PLC (Power Line Communicat) that connects various home appliances to the network via a power line.
ion) controller, 48 is a LAN controller for network connection with a personal computer, etc., 49 is a main memory used for buffering data transmitted / received by each communication control unit and for passing data between each communication control unit, 50, 51, 52. Each is a wired public line (cable TV cable network, ADSL (asymmetric digit
al subscriber line), ISDN (Integrated Service)
s Digital Network) line) is a communication control unit.

The main processor 41 has a built-in non-volatile memory in which control programs and control data are stored, and according to these control programs and control data, each communication control section is used to perform communication control with each connected device and each network. It controls and processes the VoIP function that makes a voice call in real time via the Internet. The VoIP function provided in the gateway device 40 packetizes the voice data input from the mobile phone 1 by Bluetooth communication, adds the address information of the other party, and transmits the packet on the Internet. It receives the packet data sent via the packet data, restores the voice data from the packet data, and transmits the voice data to the mobile phone 1 by Bluetooth communication.

In this VoIP function, the same VO
Information devices having an IP function and connected to the Internet, mobile phones in the same network system as this embodiment, general telephones connected to the subscriber's line, etc. are subject to communication. A call with a general telephone is realized by exchanging voice data with a server computer that provides a service related to VoIP, which is a so-called Internet telephone. By exchanging the voice data with the server computer, the server computer restores the voice signal from the voice data and transmits the voice signal to the ordinary telephone on the subscriber line, and vice versa.

The call destination is specified by recording beforehand the telephone number of the other party on the mobile phone 1 and the address information necessary for making a call by VoIP, and making a call in the Internet call mode. This address information is transmitted to the gateway device 40 so that the call destination can be designated. Alternatively, a database relating to VoIP address information is built in a specific server computer on the Internet, and the gateway device 40 accesses the database to retrieve the address information of the other party from the telephone number designated by the mobile phone 1. It is also possible to specify the call destination with.

Next, the control process of the mobile phone 1 for performing the call mode switching process will be described with reference to the flow chart. FIG. 5 shows the CPU 1 of the mobile phone 1.
3 shows a flowchart of a control process executed by 3.
This control process is started based on the operation of turning on the power of the mobile phone 1, and is repeatedly executed when the mobile phone 1 is in the normal standby mode. That is, when the power-on operation is performed, first, in step S1, the mobile phone 1
Is initialized and the process proceeds to step S2. Then
A process of sequentially waiting for a predetermined period while detecting whether there is an outgoing call based on a user operation (step S2), and a process of waiting for a predetermined period while detecting whether there is an incoming call due to communication with the wireless base station 70 (step S2). Perform S3).

If there is an outgoing call or an incoming call between steps S2 and S3, the control process of FIG. 5 is performed in the middle stage, and after the outgoing call process or the incoming call process is performed, the call process in the cellular call mode is executed. . Before moving to the call processing in the cellular call mode, the multiplexer 22 and the demultiplexer 2
The control signal to 3 is switched, and the path of the voice data is switched to the cellular baseband unit 12 side. Then, when the call process is completed, the process is returned to the original step of the control process of FIG.

After that, when the process proceeds to step S4, a predetermined area of the memory in which the current state of the Bluetooth communication is stored is confirmed in the step, and it is determined in step S5 whether or not it is currently in the area of the home network.

As a result, if it is within the home network, the process shifts to the Bluetooth communication process after step S8. On the other hand, if it is not in the home network, the process proceeds to step S6, and the Bluetooth baseband unit 15
It is confirmed whether there is a Bluetooth connection request from the outside based on the received data of, and the determination is made in step S7. Then, if there is no communication request, the process returns to step S2, and if there is a connection request, the process shifts to the Bluetooth communication process after step S8.

When the process proceeds to step S8, first, the link controller 28 of the Bluetooth baseband unit 15 is started.
Is activated (step S8), then information of the device connected to the personal network and information of the public line connected to the device are acquired by Bluetooth communication and stored in a predetermined area of the memory unit 4 ( Step S
9). That is, the processing of steps S9 and S4 functions as a monitoring function for monitoring the state of the personal network, and the processing of step S5 functions as a determination means for determining whether to shift to the Internet call mode based on the monitoring result. .

Next, in step S10, for example, data communication is performed with the VoIP function module of the gateway device 40 to wait for a predetermined period of time for an outgoing call or incoming call in the Internet call mode, and in the subsequent step S11, an outgoing call or an incoming call is made. The presence or absence of is determined.

As a result, if there is no outgoing or incoming call, the process directly returns to step S2, but if there is a call,
First, in step S12, the content of data for which communication is requested is confirmed, and in step S13, it is determined whether it is a voice data communication request or another data communication request.

If it is a voice data communication request,
In step S14, the control signals to the multiplex 22 and the demultiplex 23 are switched to switch the audio data path to the Bluetooth baseband unit 15 side,
In step S15, communication processing of this voice data is performed. Here, the voice path may be switched to the dual-purpose CPU 13 side, and the voice data may be exchanged while being compressed by the dual-purpose CPU 13.

If it is determined in step S13 that there is another data communication request such as a command for home appliance control or multimedia data, these data communication processes are performed in step S16.
Then, when the communication process of step S15 or step S16 is completed, the process returns to step S2 again to repeat these processes.

As described above, the mobile phone 1 of this embodiment
Also, according to the network system including the gateway device, it is possible to reduce the call cost and the power consumption by using the call in the Internet call mode in addition to the cellular call mode. Generally, communication of the mobile phone 1 with a wireless base station requires power of several watts per hour, but short-distance wireless communication such as Bluetooth requires only several milliwatts of power per hour, and thus power consumption is significantly reduced.

Further, when the devices connected to the personal network and their connection lines are automatically confirmed by Bluetooth communication and it is confirmed that the transition to the Internet communication mode is possible, the communication mode is used. Since it is enabled, the user can easily use the Internet call mode without performing a troublesome operation such as a call mode switching operation.

Further, even when the Internet call mode is available, the incoming and outgoing calls are confirmed in the cellular call mode, so that the cellular phone is not missed even if the operation mode is set in the home. .

Further, the speaker 7, the microphone 8 and the AD
Since the DA converter 21 is configured so as to be switched between the cellular side and the Bluetooth side and used in common, it is possible to reduce the size and manufacturing cost of the mobile phone 1.

Although the invention made by the present inventor has been specifically described based on the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Needless to say.

For example, the communication device that provides the VoIP function does not have to be the gateway device 40 as in the embodiment, but may be any device that can be connected to the Internet and that has the Bluetooth function and the VoIP function. For example, it is possible to apply various devices such as a home station device, a terminal adapter, or a personal computer for making a call through a subscriber line using a PHS as a slave.

It is also possible to add a VoIP function to the mobile phone, packetize voice data in the mobile phone, add a call destination address, and send the data to an external device connected to the Internet by Bluetooth communication. I can.

As the call mode, as shown in FIG. 6 which is a conceptual diagram of the Bluetooth call mode, when two mobile phones 1 and 1'are in the same Bluetooth wireless range, the voice data is directly transmitted by the Bluetooth communication. It is also possible to add a Bluetooth call mode for exchanging calls with each other. Furthermore, when the other party's mobile phone is within the range of the personal network, it is possible to realize a call with lower cost and lower power consumption by automatically switching to the Bluetooth call mode and controlling the call. .

[0043]

The effects obtained by the representative one of the inventions disclosed in the present application will be briefly described as follows. That is, according to the present invention, the internet call mode can significantly reduce the call cost and power consumption. Furthermore, there is an effect that a complicated operation is not required for switching the call mode and the Internet call mode can be easily used.

Further, since the speaker and the microphone and the AD converter and the DA converter are configured to be used in both the cellular call mode and the Internet call mode,
This has the effect of reducing the size of the mobile phone and reducing the manufacturing cost.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a suitable mobile phone to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of a system control circuit mounted on a mobile phone.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a system configuration for making a call in two call modes using the mobile phone of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the gateway device of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of control processing executed by the CPU of the mobile phone.

FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a Bluetooth communication mode.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 mobile phone 2 Cellular RF module 3 Bluetooth RF module 7 speakers 8 microphone 10 Communication control LSI 12 Cellular baseband section 13 dual-purpose CPU 15 Bluetooth baseband section 21 AD / DA converter 22 Multiplexer 23 Demultiplexer 28 Link Controller 40 gateway device 41 Main Processor 42 bluetooth controller 50-52 communication control unit

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Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A mobile phone capable of making a call through a public network by communicating with a wireless base station, automatically recognizes an electronic device within a wireless range, and connects to the electronic device so as to enable data communication to establish a personal network. A first call that executes a cellular call mode in which a short-distance wireless communication means is configured, a voice transmission / reception function that transmits and receives voice data in real time by data communication via the personal network, and a call is performed by communicating with the radio base station. A mode executing means, a second call mode executing means for executing an internet call mode for making a call via the internet by connecting to an electronic device connectable to the internet in the personal network and by the voice transmitting / receiving function. A mobile phone characterized by the above. 2. A monitoring function for monitoring a connection state of another device in the personal network, and a determination means for determining whether or not to shift to the Internet call mode based on the monitoring result. The mobile phone according to claim 1. 3. A microphone and a speaker for a call, and an AD converter and a DA for converting a voice signal between analog and digital.
A selector is provided for switching between the converter and the cellular signal processing means for processing a voice signal for communication with a wireless base station and the connection to the short-distance wireless communication means side. The mobile phone according to claim 1 or 2. 4. The mobile phone according to claim 1, wherein the short-range wireless communication means is a communication means according to the Bluetooth standard. 5. The mobile phone according to claim 1, a short-range wireless communication unit that constitutes the personal network,
External communication means connectable to the Internet, and a communication device provided with an Internet telephone function for exchanging voice data in real time with a device of the other party via the Internet, wherein the Internet call mode is the short distance The mobile phone and the communication device are connected to each other by the wireless communication means, the voice data is transmitted and received to and from the communication device by the voice transmitting / receiving function of the mobile phone, and the communication device and the voice are transmitted from the communication device by the Internet telephone function. A network system characterized in that a call is made by exchanging data.