JP2003092616A - Information terminal, communication system and communication state display program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information terminal capable of grasping a communication state of an opposite party from an image displayed on a screen. SOLUTION: The operating flowchart of the information terminal includes a step A14 of detecting a telephone type of an opposite party when receiving a telephone call from the opposite party, a step A15 of locating its own position and a position of the opposite party so as to detect a distance between the both, steps A15, A16 of detecting a telephone state of the opposite party, and a step A17 of reading an image corresponding to them from a memory and displaying the read information on the screen. Thus, the user can grasp the communication state of the opposite party based on the image on the screen and can make a speech with the opposite party while estimating the telephone charge depending on e.g. the telephone type of the opposite party and the distance.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a PHS (Personal).
The present invention relates to an information terminal device having a communication function such as Handy Phone) and a mobile phone (cellular), a communication system, and a communication status display program.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the recent spread of PHS and mobile phones,
There have been increasing opportunities to carry these portable phones around and make calls. Some telephones of this type have a function of displaying a corresponding image when a telephone call is made from the other party by designating the telephone number of the other party in an image registered in advance. In this case, the image is the type of the other party's phone (PHS, mobile phone, public phone, landline phone, etc.),
It is always fixed regardless of the other party's radio wave condition and the other party's location (far / near).

[0003]

As described above, conventionally, there has been one that displays an image corresponding to the telephone number of the other party at the time of an incoming call. For example, what type of telephone the other party is calling, It was not possible to grasp the communication status of the other terminal such as whether the other party's radio wave condition is good, and how far the other party is.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an information terminal device, a communication system, and a communication status display program which enable the communication status of a partner terminal to be grasped from an image displayed on the screen.

[0005]

An information terminal device according to claim 1 of the present invention is an information terminal device having a communication function, which detects a communication status of a partner terminal when a communication request is received. Means, a storage means for storing a plurality of images relating to the communication status, and an image display means for reading an image corresponding to the communication status detected by the detection means from the storage means and displaying the image on the screen. Characterize.

According to the information terminal device having such a configuration,
Since the communication status of the partner terminal is automatically detected and an image corresponding to the communication status is displayed on the screen, the communication status of the partner terminal can be grasped from the image on the screen.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the information terminal device according to the first aspect, the detecting means detects the telephone type of the partner terminal when a communication request is received,
The image display means may read an image corresponding to the telephone type of the partner terminal detected by the detection means from the storage means and display the image on the screen.

According to the information terminal device having such a configuration,
Since the telephone type is automatically detected as the communication status of the partner terminal and an image corresponding to the telephone type is displayed on the screen, the phone type of the partner terminal can be known from the image on the screen.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the information terminal device according to the first aspect, the detecting means detects the radio wave condition of the partner terminal when the communication request is received, and the image displaying means. Is characterized in that an image corresponding to the radio wave condition of the partner terminal detected by the detecting means is read from the storage means and displayed on the screen.

According to the information terminal device having such a configuration,
Since the radio wave condition is automatically detected as the communication condition of the partner terminal and an image corresponding to the radio condition is displayed on the screen, the radio condition of the partner terminal can be grasped from the image on the screen.

Further, according to a fourth aspect of the present invention, when the communication means receives the communication request, the detecting means specifies the positions of the own terminal and the partner terminal to detect the distance between them, and the image display means. Is characterized in that an image corresponding to the distance between the two detected by the detecting means is read from the storage means and displayed on the screen.

According to the information terminal device having such a configuration,
As the communication status of the other terminal, the distance between the own terminal and the other terminal is automatically detected, and the image corresponding to the distance between them is displayed on the screen. You can know if you are nearby or nearby.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the information terminal device according to the fourth aspect, the location information table in which the location information corresponding to the telephone number of the telephone number is registered and the base station on the partner terminal side are transmitted. And a data receiving unit that receives data including the station number of the base station, and searches the position information table based on the data received by the data receiving unit, and acquires the corresponding position information as the position of the partner terminal. A position acquisition unit, and the distance detection unit calculates a distance between the two based on the position information obtained by the position acquisition unit.

According to the information terminal device having such a configuration,
By receiving the data including the station number from the base station on the partner terminal side, the location information corresponding to the station number of the base station is searched from the location information table as the terminal location, and the distance to the partner terminal based on the location information. Is required.

A communication system according to claim 6 of the present invention is
In a communication system in which at least first and second terminals are connected to a server device via a network, the server device is configured to perform the communication when communicating between the first terminal and the second terminal. Detecting means for detecting the communication status of the first and second terminals, and providing the communication status of the first terminal detected by the detecting means to the second terminal and simultaneously communicating status of the second terminal. And an information providing unit for providing the first terminal to the first terminal, wherein the first and second terminals store the plurality of images relating to the communication status, and the counterpart terminal provided from the server device. Image display means for reading an image corresponding to the communication status from the storage means and displaying it on the screen is provided.

According to the communication system having such a configuration,
Since information indicating the communication status of the communication partner is sent from the server device, each terminal side only needs to display an image based on the information, and the processing load on the terminal side is reduced.

[0017]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a communication system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. A plurality of information terminal devices 1a, 1b ... And information terminal devices 2a, 2 are provided.
b ... Are connected via the network 3. Of these, the information terminal devices 1a, 1b ... Are composed of portable telephones such as PHS and mobile phones (cellular), and these are connected to the network 3 via the base stations 4a, 4b. The information terminal devices 2a, 2b ... Are fixed telephones installed in homes or businesses, or public telephones installed on the streets. The network 3 includes a wireless communication network provided by each carrier, a public line network, and the Internet. The wireless communication network includes a wireless communication switch, and the public line network includes a public line switch. It is provided and a line between each terminal is established through these exchanges.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration of the information terminal device 1a. Note that other information terminal devices 1b ... And information terminal devices 2a, 2b ... Have the same configuration.

As shown in FIG. 2, the information terminal device 1a is
It has a CPU 11, a ROM 12, and a RAM 13. C
The PU 11 is responsible for overall control of this device, and R
Various processes are executed by reading the program stored in the OM 12 in advance or the program stored in the recording medium 15 via the external storage device 14. Various information including a control program for starting the CPU 11 is stored in the ROM 12 in advance.

Information necessary for the processing operation of the CPU 11 is stored in the RAM 13, and here, a register RA, a register RB, and a register RC necessary for displaying an image according to the communication status of the partner terminal are stored. , Various tables 1
3a to 13d and an image memory 13e that stores various images for that purpose are provided. The register RA is used as a memory for temporarily holding a flag indicating the telephone type of the partner terminal and an image number corresponding to the flag. The register RB is used as a memory for temporarily holding a code indicating the distance between the own terminal and the partner terminal and an image number corresponding to the code. Register RC is
It is used as a memory for temporarily holding a code indicating the radio wave condition of the partner terminal and an image number corresponding to the code. The tables 13a to 13d will be described later with reference to FIGS. 5 to 7, and the image memory 13e will be described later with reference to FIG.

The recording medium 15 and the external storage device 14 are
For example, a medium such as a flash memory and its reading device. A program for implementing the present invention can be recorded in the recording medium 15 and provided via the external storage device 14. The method of providing the program is not limited to the recording medium 15, and the program itself may be provided from, for example, an external terminal via the network 3.

Further, in the present apparatus, the input unit 16 and the display unit 1
7, a voice processing unit 18, a communication control unit 21, and the like are provided. These are connected to the CPU 11 via the system bus 22 together with the ROM 12, the RAM 13, and the external storage device 14.

The input unit 16 is an input device including, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, a touch panel, etc., and inputs data and makes various instructions. The display unit 17 is, for example, L
It is a display device such as a CD (Liquid Crystal Display) and displays various data. Voice processing unit 18
Is a part that performs voice processing during a voice call, and is connected to a microphone 19 used as a transmitter and a speaker 20 used as a receiver. Communication control unit 2
Reference numeral 1 is for performing data communication control with an external terminal via the network 3.

Further, when the present apparatus is a mobile telephone such as a PHS telephone or a portable telephone, a radio wave intensity detecting section 2 for detecting the reception intensity of radio radio waves with the base station.
3 is provided. As a method for detecting the reception intensity of the radio wave, a method generally used for PHS and mobile phones is used, and the description thereof is omitted here.

On the other hand, the base stations 4a, 4b, ... Are connected to the network 3, each has a predetermined wireless communication range called a cell, and terminals existing in its own wireless communication range (in the example of FIG. 1, Wireless communication with the information terminal devices 1a, 1b ...) to establish a line between the terminals. In the first embodiment, these base stations 4a, 4b ... Are provided with a base station information table 31 as shown in FIG. This base station information table 31 is a table in which information about each base station is registered. The base station name, location and telephone number, and radio wave output and simultaneous output are associated with the registration code unique to each base station. It has information such as the number of lines used.

Next, various tables 13a to 13d provided in the RAM 13 will be described. These tables 13a to 13d correspond to the information terminal devices 1a, 1b ... 2a,
2b ... owns each.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the structure of the position information table 13a.

The location information table 13a is a table showing the relationship between the area code (urban area code) of the telephone number and the location information (address). For example, if the area code is "03", "in Tokyo" and the area code is "0425". If so, information such as “Hamura-shi, Tokyo ...” and area code “0427” such as “Sagamihara-city, Kanagawa ...” are registered in advance.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the structure of the telephone type table 13b.

The telephone type table 13b is a table showing the relationship between the telephone type of the partner terminal and the corresponding flag. In the example of FIG. 5, it is assumed that there are four types of telephones, "PHS", "mobile telephone", "public telephone", and "fixed telephone", and "PHS" is "07".
Flags such as "0", "mobile phone", "090", "public telephone", "010", and "fixed telephone", "020" are associated with each other. Further, when the telephone type of the partner terminal cannot be recognized, “111” is prepared as a flag indicating “unrecognizable”.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the structure of the distance table 13c.

The distance table 13c is a table in which a code corresponding to the distance between the own terminal and the partner terminal is registered. In the example of FIG. 6, the distance between the own terminal and the partner terminal is “1.
"Less than 0 km", "10 to 60 km" (10 km or more to 6
Less than 0 km), "60-120 km" (60 km or more-
(Less than 120 km) and "120 km or more" are classified into four, "less than 10 km" is "0000", "10-6".
"0km" is "0100", and "60 to 120km" is "0".
A code such as "0111" is assigned to "110" and "120 km or more".

Further, this code is related to the image size at the time of image processing which will be described later, and it is shown here that "size 1" is processed as the maximum size and "size 4" is processed as the minimum size. Such a difference in image size expresses the distance between the other party.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the structure of the radio wave condition table 13d.

The radio wave condition table 13d is a table in which a code corresponding to the radio wave condition of the partner terminal is registered.
In the example of FIG. 7, when the partner terminal is a PHS or a mobile phone, the radio wave status (radio wave reception level) of the partner is “80% or more”, “70-80%” (70-80%) (70% or more 80 %), “60 to 70%” (60% or more and less than 70%), and “60% or less”.
"80% or more" is "1000", "70-80%" is "1100", "60-70%" is "1110", "6"
A code such as “1111” is assigned to “less than 0%”.

This code is related to the image quality level at the time of image processing, which will be described later. Here, "image quality 1" is processed as high quality and "image quality 4" is processed as low quality (image containing noise). Has been done. Such a difference in image quality level expresses the radio wave condition of the other party.

Next, the structure of the image memory 13e will be described.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the structure of the image memory 13e.

In this image memory 13e, a plurality of patterns of images relating to the communication status (telephone type, radio wave status, distance) of the partner terminal are registered in advance. In the example of FIG. 8, images 1 to 13 are provided, and these images 1 to 13 are selected based on the flag indicating the telephone type of the other party, the code indicating the radio wave condition, and the code indicating the distance and displayed on the terminal screen. To be done. Images 1 to 5 are image data representing the telephone type of the partner terminal, images 6 to 9 are image data representing the distance to the partner terminal,
Images 10 to 13 are image data representing the radio wave condition of the partner terminal.

Next, the operation of the first embodiment will be described.

In the first embodiment, on the information terminal device side,
Detects the other party's phone type, signal condition, distance,
Images corresponding to these are displayed. Specific processing operations will be described below with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 9 to 14. The program for realizing each function shown in these flowcharts is C
It is stored in the recording medium 15 shown in FIG. 2 in the form of a program code that can be read by the PU 11.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart showing the overall flow of this apparatus when a call arrives.

Now, assuming that a call is made from the terminal A to the terminal B, the processing of the terminal B on the receiving side will be focused and described. The terminals A and B are the information terminal devices 1a and 1 shown in FIG.
b ... or information terminal devices 2a, 2b ...

Upon receiving the call from the terminal A, the terminal B first recognizes the telephone number of the sender terminal A (step A11). When the telephone number cannot be recognized (No in step A12), the terminal B sets the unrecognizable flag in the register RA shown in FIG. 2 (step A1).
3). This register RA is a register RB, R described later.
It is provided in a predetermined area of the RAM 13 together with C.

When the telephone number can be recognized (Yes in step A12), the terminal B detects the telephone type of the terminal A and sets the flag corresponding to the telephone type in the register RA (step A14). Further, the terminal B specifies the positions of itself and the terminal A, detects the distance between them based on the position information, and sets the code corresponding to the distance data in the register RB (step A15). Further, the terminal B detects the radio wave condition of the terminal A and sets the code corresponding to the radio wave condition data in the register RC (step A16).

In this way, after the telephone type, distance, and radio wave condition of the terminal A are detected, the terminal B displays an image corresponding to the communication condition of the other party on the terminal screen based on the information (step). A17). In addition, the step A12
If the telephone number of the terminal A cannot be recognized at, only the basic image prepared as unrecognizable is displayed. Further, the processing of FIG. 9 may be executed after the call is received and before the communication (call) with the other party is started (before the telephone is picked up), or after the communication with the other party is started (the telephone is picked up). It may be performed later).

Here, the telephone type detection process executed in step A14, the distance detection process executed in step A15, the radio wave condition detection process executed in step A16, and the image display executed in step A17. The processing will be described in detail.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing the telephone type detection processing of this apparatus, and this telephone type detection processing is executed in step A14.

First, the terminal B determines whether the terminal A is a PHS telephone (step B11). This can be determined by checking whether the head of the telephone number is a PHS-specific number (070). If it is a PHS telephone (Yes in step B11), the PHS flag "070" is set in the register RA by referring to the telephone type table 13b shown in FIG. 5 (step B12).

If it is not a PHS telephone, then it is judged whether or not it is a portable telephone (step B13). this is,
It can be determined by checking whether or not the head of the telephone number is a number (090) peculiar to the mobile telephone. If it is a mobile phone (Yes in step B13), the mobile phone flag "09" is referred to by referring to the phone type table 13b shown in FIG.
"0" is set in the register RA (step B14).

If it is neither a PHS telephone nor a mobile telephone, then it is judged whether or not it is a public telephone (step B15). In the case of a public telephone, this can be judged by checking the signal because a signal unique to the public telephone is sent from the exchange together with the telephone number. If it is a public telephone (Yes in step B16), the public telephone flag "010" is set in the register RA by referring to the telephone type table 13b shown in FIG. 5 (step B1).
6).

If the telephone is not a public telephone, then it is determined whether the telephone is a fixed telephone (step B17). This can be judged by checking the signal because a signal unique to the fixed telephone is sent from the exchange together with the telephone number in the case of a general fixed telephone. If it is a fixed telephone (Yes in step B17), the fixed telephone flag "020" is set in the register RA by referring to the telephone type table 13b shown in FIG. 5 (step B18).

If the telephone does not correspond to any of the above-mentioned telephones (No in step B17), the unrecognizable flag "111" is set in the register RA (step B1).
9), the processing here is finished.

In the above process, the PHS telephone, the mobile telephone, the public telephone, and the fixed telephone are discriminated in this order, but this order is not particularly limited, and the other party's telephone type can be used in another order. May be determined in order.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart showing the distance detection processing of this apparatus. This distance detection processing is carried out in the above step A.
It is executed at 15.

To detect the distance between yourself and the other party,
You need to identify your position and your opponent's position. This position specifying process differs depending on whether the user and the other party are fixed-line phones (public phones and ordinary fixed-line phones) and mobile phones (PHS phones and mobile phones), respectively.

That is, when the terminal B receives a telephone call from the terminal A, if the terminal B is a fixed telephone (Yes in step C11), the terminal number of the own telephone number from the position information table 13a shown in FIG. The position information corresponding to the area code (city area code) is searched, and the position information is set as the own position (step C12). For example, if the area code is "03", it is within Tokyo, and if the area code is "0425", it is within Hamura-shi, Tokyo. This position information table 13a is prepared in advance for each terminal. In the example of FIG. 4, the location information table 13a is configured by the city code, but if it is configured by including the city code, more detailed position (address) can be determined.

On the other hand, when the terminal B is a mobile telephone (No in step C11), the terminal B first sends a message from the base station to identify the position of the base station with which it is currently communicating as its own position. The station number (urban area number) of the base station is extracted from the incoming data (step C13). Then, the terminal B searches the position information table 13a for position information (address) corresponding to the station number of the base station, and sets the position information as its own position (step C14).

Here, the processing on the base station side will be described.

Now, as shown in FIG. 12, terminal A and terminal B
Will be mobile phones, the base station closest to the terminal A will be TA, and the base station closest to the terminal B will be TB. These base stations TA and TB have
A base station information table 31 as shown in FIG. 3 is provided in common.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart showing the processing on the base station side. FIG. 13 (a) shows the processing of the base station TA, and FIG. 13 (b) shows the processing of the base station TB.

As shown in FIG. 13 (a), the base station TA starts communication with the terminal A (step D1).
1), searching the base station information table 31 shown in FIG. 3 for the area code (town area code) of the user's own telephone number (step D1).
2) Then, this is transmitted to terminal B, which is the destination of terminal A (step D13). The transmission of the station number at this time corresponds to the process on the terminal side in step C17 described later. Also,
At this time, by receiving the radio wave condition from the terminal A (step D14), this radio wave condition is also transmitted to the terminal B (step D15). The mobile phone is provided with a radio field intensity detection function (the radio field intensity detection unit 23 in FIG. 2).
When the terminal A is a mobile telephone, it periodically sends its radio wave condition to the base station TA during communication with the base station TA.
The above process is repeated while communicating with the terminal A (Yes in step D16), and ends when the communication is disconnected (step D17).

As shown in FIG. 13 (b), the base station TB starts communication with the terminal B (step E1).
1), searching the base station information table 31 shown in FIG. 3 for the area code (city area code) of the user's own telephone number (step E1).
2) Then, this is transmitted to the terminal B (step E13). The transmission of the station number at this time corresponds to the processing on the terminal side in step C13. The above process is repeated during the communication with the terminal B (Yes in step E14), and ends when the communication is disconnected (step E15).

Returning to FIG. 11, when the terminal B specifies its own position, it subsequently specifies the position of the other terminal, the terminal A. Similarly to the above, the terminal B first determines the telephone type of the terminal A, and if the terminal A is a fixed telephone (step C15).
Yes), the position information corresponding to the area code (urban area code) of the telephone number of the terminal B is searched from the position information table 13a shown in FIG. 4, and the position information is set as the other party's position (step C16).

On the other hand, if the terminal A is a mobile telephone (No in step C15), first, in order to specify the position of the base station with which the terminal A is currently communicating as the position of the terminal A, it is first sent from the base station. Base station code (city code) from incoming data
Is extracted (step C17). Then, the terminal B searches the position information table 13a for the position information (address) corresponding to the station number of the base station, and sets the position information as the position of the partner (step C18).

When the positions of the terminal B and the terminal A are specified in this way, the terminal B obtains the latitude and longitude from the position information of itself and the terminal A (step C1).
9, C20). In this case, since the position information is a wide range of addresses obtained from the area code (urban area code), the latitude and longitude of the center of the address is obtained using map information prepared in advance.

When the latitude and longitude indicating the respective positions of terminal B and terminal A are obtained, terminal B calculates the distance between them based on the latitude and longitude (step C21), and the distance table shown in FIG. 13c, the code corresponding to the calculated distance data is set in the register RB (step C22). In the example of FIG. 6, the distance data is “1.
"Less than 0 km" is "0000", "10 to 60 km" is "0100", "60 to 120 km" is "0110",
A code such as "0111" at "120 km or more" is set in the register RB.

FIG. 14 is a flow chart showing the radio wave condition detection processing of this apparatus, and this radio wave condition detection processing is executed in step A16.

When the terminal B receives the data including the radio wave condition detected by the terminal A (step F11), the radio wave condition data is extracted from the received data (step F1).
2). In this case, if the terminal A is a mobile phone, the data including the radio wave condition is received via the base station corresponding to the terminal A. The processing at this time corresponds to steps D14 and D15 in FIG.

When the radio wave condition data of the terminal A is obtained, the terminal B refers to the radio wave condition table 13d shown in FIG.
A code corresponding to the radio wave condition data is set in the register RC (step F13). The radio wave condition data indicates the level at which radio waves can be received from the base station,
In the example of FIG. 7, the level is "80% or more" and "100".
0 "," 70-80% "is" 1100 "," 60-70 "
A code such as "1110" for "%" and "1111" for "less than 60%" is set in the register RC.

FIG. 15 is a flow chart showing the image display processing (1) of this apparatus. This image display processing (1) is executed in step A17. Here, a case will be described in which an image is displayed according to any one of the telephone type, the distance display, and the radio wave condition. The user selects one of the telephone type mode, the distance display mode, and the radio wave condition mode on the menu screen in advance.
The display mode selected at this time is held in the RAM 13.

As shown in FIG. 15, the terminal B first reads a flag indicating the telephone type of the terminal A, which is the other terminal, from the register RA, and the image number corresponding to the flag is read from the image memory 13e shown in FIG. Search and register RA
(Steps G11 and G12).

Similarly, the terminal B reads the code indicating the distance data with the terminal A from the register RB, retrieves the image number corresponding to the code from the image memory 13e, and resets it in the register RB (step G1
3, G14), the code indicating the radio wave condition data of the terminal A is read from the register RC, the image number corresponding to the code is retrieved from the image memory 13e, and is reset in the register RC (steps G15 and G16).

Here, the terminal B judges the currently selected display mode, and if the telephone type display mode is selected (Yes in step G17), the image number of the register RA is read (step G18), The image data corresponding to the image number is displayed on the screen (step G2).
3). If the distance display mode is selected (Yes in step G19), the image number of the register RB is read (step G20), and the image data corresponding to the image number is displayed on the screen (step G23). Similarly, if the radio wave condition display mode is selected (Yes in step G21), the image number of the register RC is read (step G22), and the image data corresponding to the image number is displayed on the screen (step G23). ).

In this way, the image data corresponding to the image number held in the corresponding register is displayed on the screen according to the currently selected display mode. For example, if the telephone type display mode is selected and the telephone type of the other party at that time is a mobile phone, the image 2 corresponding to the image number 2 shown in FIG. Will be displayed on the terminal screen (Fig. 17).
(See (c)).

In FIG. 15, an image corresponding to any one of the telephone type, the distance display, and the radio wave condition is displayed, but these images can be combined and displayed. Yes, the image display processing will be described below.

FIG. 16 is a flow chart showing the image display processing (2) of this apparatus, and this image display processing (2) is executed in step A17. Here, description will be made on the assumption that an image corresponding to each state of the telephone type, the distance display, and the radio wave condition is combined and displayed. The user preliminarily selects any one of the telephone type mode, the distance display mode, and the radio wave condition mode on the menu screen. In this case, a plurality of display modes can be selected, and the display mode selected at this time is held in the RAM 13.

As shown in FIG. 16, the terminal B first determines whether or not the telephone type display mode is selected (step H11). If the telephone type display mode is selected (Yes in step H11), the terminal B reads the telephone type flag from the register RA (step H1).
2) Based on the telephone type flag, the image data corresponding to the corresponding image number is retrieved from the image memory 13e and expanded in a predetermined area of the RAM 13 (step H1).
3). If the telephone type display mode is not selected (No in step H11), the terminal B develops the basic image data prepared in advance in a predetermined area of the RAM 13 (step H14). The basic image data is used as a normal image, and for example, the image 5 corresponding to the unrecognizable flag “111” in FIG. 8 may be used.

Next, the terminal B determines whether or not the radio wave condition display mode is selected (step H15). If the radio wave status display mode is selected (step H
15), the terminal B stores the radio wave status code in the register R
It is read from C (step H16), and the image data currently developed is processed based on the radio wave condition code (step H17). As shown in FIG. 7, the radio wave status code is related to the image quality level when the image is processed. For example, if the radio wave status code is “1000”, the image data is processed with the quality of “image quality 1”. In this case, the code "10" indicating that the radio wave condition of the other party is "80% or more"
"Image quality 1" corresponding to "00" has the highest image quality level,
"Image quality 4" corresponding to the code "1111" indicating "less than 60%" is set to the lowest image quality level, and in this processing, the noise component corresponding to the image quality level is added to the current image data. It is realized by adding. By adding this noise component, the image becomes distorted,
Can express that the other party's radio wave condition is poor.

Next, the terminal B determines whether or not the distance display mode is selected (step H18). If the distance display mode is selected (Y in step H18)
es), the terminal B reads the distance code from the register RB (step H19), and processes the image data currently developed based on the distance code (step H2).
0). As shown in FIG. 6, the distance code is related to the image size at the time of image processing, for example, the distance code “0000”.
If so, the image data is processed with an image size of "size 1". In this case, the distance to the other party is "10k
"Size 1" corresponding to the code "0000" indicating "less than m" has the largest size, and "Size 4" corresponding to the code "0111" indicating "120 km or more" has the smallest size. It is set, and the processing process at this time is realized by changing the size of the current image data at a magnification according to the image size. By changing the size, it is possible to express the case where the other party is far and near.

In this way, the current image data is appropriately processed according to the display mode and then displayed on the terminal screen (step H21). In this case, phone type mode,
If each of the distance display mode and the radio wave condition mode is selected, an image including three states of the other party's telephone type, distance, and radio wave condition is displayed, although not particularly shown.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an image display example of this apparatus. FIG. 17 (a) shows a basic image, FIG. 17 (b) shows an image displayed when the other party is far away, and FIG. 17 (c) shows the other person. An image displayed when the mobile phone is used, and FIG. 7D shows an image displayed when the radio wave condition of the other party is bad.

Normally, a basic image 42 as shown in FIG. 17A is displayed on the terminal screen 41 when an incoming call arrives. However, if the distance display mode is selected, as shown in FIG. An image 43 representing the distance to is displayed. This image 43
The farther the opponent is, the smaller the size becomes, and the closer the partner is, the larger the size becomes. If the phone type display mode is selected, as shown in FIG.
An image 44 capable of identifying the telephone type of the other party is displayed.
This image 44 shows the type of phone (P
There are various types such as HS phones, mobile phones, public phones, and fixed phones. Further, if the radio wave condition display mode is selected, an image 45 showing the radio wave condition of the other party is displayed as shown in FIG. The image quality of the image 45 deteriorates as the radio wave condition of the other party deteriorates (noise occurs), and the image quality becomes clearer as the radio wave condition of the other party improves.

In this way, when receiving a call, the telephone type of the other party,
An image corresponding to the distance and the radio wave condition is displayed on the screen, which is convenient because it is possible to make a call after grasping the communication condition of the other party.

In the first embodiment, the caller's communication status (telephone type, distance,
Although it has been described that the image is displayed according to the radio wave condition), it is also possible to display the same image on the terminal making the call. That is, for example, when a call is made from the terminal A to the terminal B, an image is displayed on the screen of the terminal A in accordance with the telephone type of the terminal B, the radio wave condition, and the mutual distance. This is because the terminal A side executes the processing of FIG. 9 to FIG. 11 and FIG. 14 to FIG. 16 at the time of making a call, and further, in the processing of the base station TB shown in FIG. And send it to terminal A as
This can be realized by adding a process of receiving the radio wave condition of the terminal B and transmitting it to the terminal A.

In the first embodiment, as a position detecting method when the terminal is a mobile phone (PHS phone or mobile phone), the base station closest to the terminal (that is, the base station currently in communication) is used. Area code of the relevant base station (city area code)
Was sent, and the address indicated by the station number was recognized as its own position, but it is also possible to detect its own position on the terminal side using the position information service provided by the base station, for example. . In addition, for example, GPS (global pos
It is also possible to detect the position of the terminal itself by incorporating the position detection function such as the itioning system) into the terminal. In this way, when the position of the terminal itself is detected by using the position information service of the base station or the position detection function such as GPS, the terminal position can be specified in more detail and the terminal side can notify the communication partner. On the other hand, since it is only necessary to transmit its own position, there is no need for the station number transmission process on the base station side, and there is an advantage that the existing base station can be used as it is.

(Second Embodiment) Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

In the first embodiment, the terminal side detects the communication status (telephone type, distance, radio wave status) of the other party, but in the second embodiment, the center device (on the network) provided on the network ( The server device) performs a service of detecting the communication status and providing it to the terminal.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing the configuration of a communication system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. A plurality of information terminal devices 1a, 1b ... And information terminal devices 2a, 2b ... Are connected via a network 3. The center device 50 of this embodiment is provided on the network 3. The center device 50 is composed of a server computer,
It has a function of detecting the telephone type, distance, and radio wave condition of each terminal and providing the same to each terminal when communicating between the terminals on the network 3.

FIG. 19 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration of the center device 50.

As shown in FIG. 19, the center device 50
Includes a CPU 51, a ROM 52, and a RAM 53. The CPU 51 controls the entire apparatus, and executes various processes by reading a program stored in advance in the ROM 52 or a program stored in the recording medium 55 via the external storage device 54. ROM5
Various information including a control program for activating the CPU 51 and the like is stored in advance in 2.

Information necessary for the processing operation of the CPU 51 is stored in the RAM 53. Here, various kinds of information necessary for displaying an image according to the communication status (telephone type / distance / radio wave status) of the other party. Tables 53a to 53d are provided. Note that these tables 53a to 53d are the same as the position information table 13a, telephone type table 13b, distance table 13c, and radio wave condition table 13d provided in the terminal in the first embodiment (FIG. 4).
Through FIG. 7). In the second embodiment, these tables 13a to 13d are unnecessary on the terminal side, and only the image memory 13e needs to be installed.

The recording medium 55 and the external storage device 54 are
For example, it is a medium such as a magnetic disk and its reading device (HDD or the like). A program for implementing the present invention can be recorded in the recording medium 55 and provided via the external storage device 54. The external storage device 54 is, for example, a flexible disk device, a magnetic disk device, an optical disk device, a CD-ROM device, a flash memory, etc., and the recording medium 55 is a medium corresponding to these devices. The method of providing the program is not limited to the recording medium 55, and the program itself may be provided from an external terminal via the network 3, for example.

Further, in this apparatus, the input section 56 and the display section 5 are provided.
7, a communication control unit 58 and the like are provided. These are R
It is connected to the CPU 51 via the system bus 59 together with the OM 52, the RAM 53, and the external storage device 54.

The input unit 56 is an input device including, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, a touch panel, etc., and inputs data and makes various instructions. The display unit 57 is, for example, L
CD (Liquid Crystal Display) and CRT (Cathode-ra)
y tube) is a display device such as, and displays various data. The communication control unit 58 controls communication of data with an external terminal via the network 3.

Next, the operation of the second embodiment will be described.

20 and 21 are flowcharts showing the processing operation of the center device. The program for realizing each function shown in this flowchart is CP
Figure 1 in the form of program code readable by U51
It is stored in the recording medium 55 shown in FIG. Further, in the following description, it is assumed that a call is made from terminal A to terminal B. The terminals A and B are the information terminal devices 1a shown in FIG.
1b ... or information terminal devices 2a, 2b ...

When the center device 50 receives the call request from the terminal A to the terminal B (step I11), it accesses the terminal B (step I12). At that time, the center device 50 first detects the telephone types of the terminals A and B (step I13). This telephone type detection processing is the same as in the first embodiment. That is, by recognizing the telephone numbers of the terminals A and B, if the beginning of the telephone numbers is a PHS-specific number (070), it is determined to be a PHS telephone, and a mobile-phone-specific number (090). If so, it is determined to be a mobile phone. Also, in the case of public telephones and ordinary fixed telephones,
Since a signal unique to each telephone is sent from the exchange together with the telephone number, it is determined from the signal that the telephone is a public telephone or a general fixed telephone.

Next, the center unit 50 has terminals A and B.
In order to detect the distance between and, first, a process of specifying these positions is performed (steps I14 to I21). This position identification processing is performed when terminal A and terminal B are fixed telephones (public telephones and ordinary fixed telephones) and mobile telephones (PHS).
Phones and mobile phones) are different.

That is, in the center device 50, if the terminal A on the calling side is a fixed telephone (Yes in step I14).
s), the location information table 53a (same configuration as the location information table 13a shown in FIG. 4) is searched for location information corresponding to the area code (urban area code) of the telephone number of the terminal A, and the location information is searched for the location of the terminal A. (Step I15). For example, if the area code of terminal A is "03", it means that it is in Tokyo,
If it is "0425", it means Hamura-shi, Tokyo.

On the other hand, when the terminal A is a mobile telephone (No in step I14), the center device 50 first identifies the position of the base station with which the terminal A is currently communicating as the position of the terminal A so that the position of the base station can be specified. The station number (urban area number) of the base station is extracted from the data sent from (step I16).
Then, the center device 50 searches the position information table 53a for the position information (address) corresponding to the station number of the base station, and sets the position information as the position of the terminal A (step I1).
7).

The processing on the base station side is basically the same as that shown in FIG. 13, and can be realized by changing the station number transmission destination of the base station to the center device 50 instead of the terminal.

That is, the base station closest to the terminal A is T
When the base station closest to A and terminal B is TB, these base stations TA and TB are commonly provided with a base station information table 31 as shown in FIG. Base station TA
Then, when the communication with the terminal A is started, from the base station information table 31, the area code of the own telephone number (city area code)
Is transmitted to the center device 50. The transmission of the station number at this time corresponds to the processing of step I16. The same applies to the base station TB, and when the communication with the terminal B is started, the base station information table 31 is searched for the area code (urban area code) of its own telephone number and transmitted to the center device 50. The transmission of the station number at this time corresponds to the processing of step I20 described later.

After identifying the position of the terminal A, the center device 50 subsequently identifies the position of the terminal B, which is the transmission destination of the terminal A. Similarly to the above, the center device 50 firstly
If the terminal B is a landline telephone (Yes in step I18), the position information corresponding to the area code (urban area code) of the phone number of the terminal B is searched from the position information table 53a, and the position information is determined. Is set as the position of the opponent (step I19).

On the other hand, if the terminal B is a mobile telephone (No in step I18), the center device 50 first identifies the position of the base station with which the terminal B is currently communicating as the position of the terminal B so that the position of the base station with which the terminal B is currently communicating is specified. The station number (city code) of the base station is extracted from the data sent from (step I20).
Then, the center device 50 searches the position information table 53a for position information (address) corresponding to the station number of the base station, and sets the position information as the position of the terminal B (step I2).
1).

When the positions of the terminal A and the terminal B are specified, the center device 50 determines the terminal A, terminal B based on these position information.
The distance between B is calculated (step I22). For more information,
The latitude and longitude of each of the terminals A and B are obtained from the position information (address), and the distance between them is calculated based on the information of the latitude and longitude.

Next, the center device 50 detects the radio wave conditions of the terminals A and B (step I23). This radio wave condition detection processing is performed when the terminal A or the terminal B is a mobile telephone. As described above, the mobile phone has the radio field intensity detection function (the radio field intensity detection unit 23 in FIG. 2). Therefore, when the terminal A is a mobile phone, the center device 50 receives the data including the radio wave condition from the terminal A, extracts the radio wave condition data from the received data, and determines the level of the radio wave condition. . Terminal B
The same applies to the case where the mobile phone is a mobile phone, and by receiving data including the radio wave condition from the terminal B, the radio wave condition data is extracted from the received data and the level of the radio wave condition is determined.

In this way, when the telephone types of the terminal A and the terminal B, the radio wave condition, and the distance between the terminal A and the terminal B are obtained, the center device 50 tells the terminal A the telephone type of the terminal B, Information regarding the radio wave condition and the distance between terminal A and terminal B is added to the transmission data and sent (step I2
4), the phone type of terminal A, the radio wave condition,
Information regarding the distance between the terminal A and the terminal B is added to the transmission data and transmitted (step I25).

More specifically, the telephone type table 53b (same configuration as the telephone type table 13b shown in FIG. 5) and the distance table 53c (FIG. 6) provided in the center device 50.
(The same configuration as the distance table 13c shown in Fig. 7) and the radio wave condition table 53d (the radio wave condition table 13d shown in Fig. 7) are referred to, a flag indicating the telephone type of the other party, a code indicating the distance between the two, a radio wave of the other party The code indicating the situation is searched and added to the transmission data to be transmitted. After transmitting the data, the center device 50 starts communication between them (step I2).
6).

FIG. 22 is a flow chart showing the processing operation on the terminal side.

When the terminals A and B communicate with each other,
The center device 50 receives the data to which the information regarding the telephone type of the other party, the radio wave condition, and the distance between them is added (step J11). Then, by extracting additional information from this received data (step J12), an image is displayed on the terminal screen according to the telephone type of the other party, the radio wave condition, and the distance between them (step J13).

The image display processing in step J13 is as follows.
This is similar to FIG. 15 or 16. That is, terminal A
In the terminal B, the flag indicating the telephone type of the other party, the code indicating the radio wave condition, and the code indicating the distance between the two are acquired from the center device 50 to determine the corresponding image data from the image memory 13e, respectively. These image data are displayed individually according to each display mode (image display processing (1) in FIG. 15), or image data obtained from the telephone type is appropriately processed according to each display mode. Display (image display process (1) in FIG. 16). As a result, on the screens of the terminals A and B, for example, FIG.
The image as shown in will be displayed.

As described above, since the information indicating the communication status (telephone type, distance, radio wave status) of the communication partner is sent from the center device 50, each terminal only displays an image based on the information. Only the processing is required, and the processing load on the terminal side is reduced.

In the second embodiment, the information about the telephone type, distance, and radio wave condition is transmitted from the center device 50, and the terminal side retrieves and displays the image corresponding to the information from the image memory 13e. However, a configuration is also possible in which the center device 50 side includes an image search process and distributes the image data obtained by the search.

As a position detecting method when the terminal is a mobile phone (PHS phone or mobile phone), the center device 50 moves from the base station closest to the terminal (that is, the base station currently in communication) to the station number of the base station. Although the (town area code) is received and the position (address) of the terminal is specified,
As described in the above embodiment, the center device 50 uses the position information service provided by the base station or the position detecting function such as GPS is mounted on the terminal to detect the position of the center device 50. The position information may be obtained from the terminal.

Further, in the first and second embodiments,
Although description has been made assuming that a call is made between the terminals, the present invention can be applied not only to a call but also to general data communication including transmission and reception of e-mail, for example.

Further, the methods described in each of the above-described embodiments are, for example, magnetic disks (flexible disks, hard disks, etc.), optical disks (CD-RO) as programs that can be executed by a computer.
It is also possible to write the data on a recording medium such as M, DVD, etc.) or a semiconductor memory and apply it to various devices, or to transmit the program itself via a transmission medium such as a network and apply it to various devices. A computer that realizes the present apparatus reads the program recorded in the recording medium or the program provided via the transmission medium, and the operation is controlled by the program to execute the above-described processing.

[0119]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, it is possible to grasp the communication status such as the telephone type, the radio wave status, and the distance of the partner terminal from the image displayed on the screen when performing the communication. it can. Thereby, for example, if the partner terminal is a telephone, it is possible to estimate the call charge from the telephone type and the distance and make a call with peace of mind. Further, by providing the terminal with a function of displaying an image according to such a communication state, it is possible to provide the user with a product having a playful feeling and a characteristic.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a communication system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of an information terminal device in the communication system.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of a base station information table provided in a base station in the communication system.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of a position information table provided in the information terminal device.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of a telephone type table provided in the information terminal device.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration of a distance table provided in the information terminal device.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a configuration of a radio wave condition table provided in the information terminal device.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a configuration of an image memory provided in the information terminal device.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining the overall flow of the information terminal device when receiving a call.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining a telephone type detection process in the information terminal device.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart for explaining distance detection processing in the information terminal device.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a network configuration example when the information terminal device is a mobile phone.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart for explaining processing on the side of the base station.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart for explaining a radio wave condition detection process in the information terminal device.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart for explaining image display processing (1) in the information terminal device.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart for explaining image display processing (1) in the information terminal device.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an image display example in the information terminal device.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a configuration of a communication system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of a center device in the communication system.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart (part 1) for explaining the processing operation of the center device.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart (part 2) for explaining the processing operation of the center device.

FIG. 22 is a flowchart for explaining a processing operation of the information terminal device in the communication system.

[Explanation of symbols]

1a, 1b ... Information terminal device (mobile phone) 2a, 2b ... Information terminal device (fixed telephone) 3 ... Network 4a, 4b ... Base station 11 ... CPU 12 ... ROM 13 ... RAM 13a ... Position information table 13b ... Phone type table 13c ... distance table 13d ... Radio wave condition table 13e ... Image memory 14 ... External storage device 15 ... Recording medium 16 ... Input section 17 ... Display 18 ... Communication control unit 19 ... Mike 20 ... speaker 21 ... Communication control unit 23 ... Radio wave intensity detector 50 ... Center device

Continued front page    F term (reference) 5K027 AA11 BB01 EE00 FF22 HH23                       HH26                 5K067 BB04 DD43 DD44 DD52 EE02                       EE10 EE16 FF03 FF07 FF23                       HH22 HH23 JJ52 JJ56 JJ64

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An information terminal device having a communication function, comprising: a detection means for detecting a communication status of a partner terminal when a communication request is received; and a storage means for storing a plurality of images relating to the communication status. An information terminal device, comprising: an image display unit for reading an image corresponding to the communication status detected by the detection unit from a storage unit and displaying the image on a screen. 2. The detecting means, when receiving a communication request, detects the telephone type of the partner terminal, and the image display means, the telephone type of the partner terminal detected by the detecting means from the storage means. The information terminal device according to claim 1, wherein an image corresponding to is read and displayed on a screen. 3. The detection means detects the radio wave condition of the partner terminal when a communication request is received, and the image display means detects the radio wave condition of the partner terminal from the storage device. The information terminal device according to claim 1, wherein an image corresponding to is read and displayed on a screen. 4. The detecting means, when receiving a communication request, specifies the positions of the own terminal and the other terminal to detect the distance between them, and the image display means detects the distance from the storage means. The information terminal device according to claim 1, wherein an image corresponding to the distance between the two detected by the means is read and displayed on the screen. 5. A position information table in which position information corresponding to the station number of the telephone number is registered, and data receiving means for receiving data including the station number of the base station transmitted from the base station of the partner terminal side, A position acquisition unit that searches the position information table based on the data received by the data reception unit and acquires the corresponding position information as the position of the partner terminal; and the detection unit is obtained by the position acquisition unit. The information terminal device according to claim 4, wherein the distance between the two is calculated based on the obtained position information. 6. In a communication system in which at least first and second terminals are connected to a server device via a network, the server device communicates between the first terminal and the second terminal. When performing, the detection means for detecting the communication status of the first and second terminals, and the communication status of the first terminal detected by the detection means are provided to the second terminal and the second terminal is provided. Information providing means for providing the communication status of the terminal to the first terminal, wherein the first and second terminals provide storage means for storing a plurality of images relating to the communication status, and are provided from the server device. An image display unit for reading an image corresponding to the communication status of the partner terminal from the storage unit and displaying the image on the screen. 7. A communication status display program used in a computer having a communication function, comprising a function of detecting the communication status of a partner terminal when the computer receives a communication request, and a plurality of communication status related programs. Communication status display program that realizes a function of reading an image corresponding to the communication status of the partner terminal from a predetermined memory in which the image is registered and displaying the image on the screen.