JP2003234669A - Radio communication apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a radio communication apparatus which can be used even in the nations and regions of different frequencies. <P>SOLUTION: The radio communication apparatus capable of conducting mobile communication by radio through the radio network of a mobile object communication system is provided with a frequency switching means for switching the frequency of the mobile communication so as to be the frequency used in the communication system of a designated nation, and the mobile communication is performed by switching to the frequency of the nation which is a moving destination. The frequency is switched by voltage control of a circuit having a synthesizer or by switching the circuit and an antenna corresponding to the frequency. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mobile terminal having a wireless communication function such as a mobile phone and a mobile computer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a radio access method in a mobile communication system, for example, in the first generation (analog type), FDMA (Frequency-Division Multiple-Access) is used.
Is adopted worldwide, and in the second generation (digital type), GSM (Global System
m for Mobile Communication), the mainstream T in the US and Japan
DMA (Time-division Multiple-Access) and CDMA (Co
de-Division Multiple-Access) and various other methods are adopted and used in mobile communication terminals (hereinafter, referred to as “wireless communication devices”) having a wireless communication function such as mobile phones. As a next-generation (third generation) system, systems such as "W-CDMA" recommended by Japan and Europe and "cdma2000" recommended by North America have been proposed.

As described above, as a method for wireless communication, a method which is different depending on the times or countries or regions is usually adopted. In other words, the interests of countries and companies may collide, and further technological advances may be expected,
It is difficult to unify one system as a global standard, including protocols from the lower layer to the upper layer. Therefore, at present, there is a problem that if the user carries a wireless communication device with him or her and moves to a country or region where the communication method is different, such as overseas travel or business trip, the wireless communication device cannot be used.

Regarding the frequency band of the wireless communication device, the frequency band to be shared internationally and the frequency band to be reserved for the future are arranged by the International Telecommunications Convention. Each country has its own radio wave administration. For the next generation (third generation) mobile phones, a new frequency (2 GHz frequency band) common to all countries around the world, and to establish a global standard for technology, I
The TU (International Telecommunication Union) is coordinating the proposals of each country.
It seems that the two standards cannot be unified. For example, even in the same CDMA system, the present situation is that the frequency bands used are partially different. Therefore, even if the communication method is the same as described above, it is considered that the problem that the frequency to be used differs depending on the country or region will occur for the time being in the future.

[0005]

The above-mentioned GSM,
Differences in communication methods such as CDMA correspond to various communication methods by promoting the spread of "software defined radio", which is attracting attention as a next-generation wireless technology, standardizing related specifications, and amending laws such as the Radio Law. There is a possibility that a possible wireless communication device will be realized, but it is expected that the time for practical use will be far ahead. On the other hand, with regard to the problem that the frequencies used differ depending on the country or region, it is unlikely that they will be unified globally, and mobile phones that have adopted the third-generation communication method will become mainstream internationally. , I think it will be quite a while ahead. However, it is very inconvenient for users and waste of resources that the wireless communication devices of the same system cannot be used simply because the frequencies are different.

The present invention has been made under the circumstances as described above, and an object of the present invention is to provide a wireless communication device which can be used even in countries or regions having different frequencies. .

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a wireless communication device capable of wireless mobile communication through a wireless network of a mobile communication system. This is achieved by providing frequency switching means for switching the frequency of the mobile communication so that it becomes the frequency used in the communication system, and performing the mobile communication by switching to the frequency of the destination country.

Furthermore, the switching of the frequency is performed by voltage control of a circuit having a synthesizer; the switching of the frequency is performed by switching a circuit and an antenna corresponding to the frequency; Commanding is performed based on the operation information of the operating unit of the communication device; the country recognition means for automatically recognizing the country in which the wireless communication device is currently located is provided, and the command of the country is the country. The command is based on the recognition information of the recognition means; the wireless communication device is a mobile phone;
By further comprising time correction means for automatically correcting the date and time to the date and time of the country concerned; the communication method being changeable to a communication method usable in the commanded country. , Each is achieved more effectively.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. A mobile phone will be described as a specific example of the wireless communication device, and a case where the present invention is applied to a mobile phone will be described as an example.

FIG. 1 shows a first wireless communication device according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the embodiment of FIG.
The wireless communication device shown in FIG. 1 is a mobile phone capable of performing wireless communication with another communication terminal in accordance with a frequency used in a plurality of countries or regions (hereinafter, referred to as “country” for convenience). As a characteristic component, a transmitter / receiver 21 having a frequency switching means 22 for switching to a frequency used in the communication system of the commanded country (each frequency band in the up direction and the down direction) and the date and time of the mobile phone are set. A time correction unit 23 that corrects the date and time of the country (hereinafter referred to as “time” for convenience) is provided. The signal processing unit 24 is a unit that processes a signal in the communication method under the control of the control unit 20 and is configured by software.

In a preferred embodiment, the above-mentioned software is, for example, an FPGAG (field programmable gate ar).
mounted on a programmable LSI such as ray), by switching software or downloading from a management computer, or by exchanging a removable storage medium, a communication method (here, GS is not specified, GS is excluded).
M, CDMA, etc.) can be changed to a communication system that can be used in the country instructed or automatically recognized. In FIG. 1, other components, that is, a display unit 11 including a liquid crystal display, an operation unit 1
2, the hardware configuration of the voice input unit 13, the voice output unit 14, the power supply unit 15, the storage unit 16 and the like is the same as that of a general mobile phone. The country recognition means 25 shown in FIG. 1 is a means installed in the second embodiment,
It is not included as a component in the first embodiment.

In the first embodiment, the frequency switching is manual, and the user specifies the country by operating the operation unit. Here, the configuration of the frequency switching means 22 will be described. The reception frequency of the radio wave that can be used in that country can be detected by scanning the entire frequency band that is targeted by the wireless communication device, but in some countries, the available transmission frequency band and reception frequency band are It is not always possible to specify the transmission frequency of the country based on the detected reception frequency because it partially overlaps with other countries. Therefore, in the first embodiment of the present invention, the frequency band of the country is switched by the designation of the country from the operation unit. This designation is performed by an operation of a dial type operation means or a selection operation of a display menu.

As the structure of the frequency switching means 22, for example, an antenna, a synthesizer capable of varying a frequency according to a control voltage (and a receiving filter and a transmitting filter capable of varying a filter characteristic according to a control voltage).
It is realized by switching to the frequency of the country by variable control of a control voltage or the like corresponding to the frequency set in advance for each country (and communication method). Alternatively,
A plurality of circuits and antennas may be provided, and the frequency may be switched to that of the country by a multi-band / multi-antenna method in which the circuit and the antenna corresponding to the frequency are switched. Alternatively, both may be combined. Further, the frequency may be switched and the communication system of the country may be switched.

Next, the structure of the time correction means 23 will be described. In a country where the standard frequency timekeeping station is installed, an accurate time can be automatically set by providing a timekeeping station information receiving means for receiving a signal transmitted from the timekeeping station. In this case, the time correction means 23 corrects the reference time (time of the current country) based on the information on the time difference between the current country and the designated country in the case of a country having no standard frequency timekeeping station.

The frequency switching operation and the time correction operation in the above-mentioned configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Note that, here, an example will be described in which the frequency is switched to the frequency of the country by variable control of the control voltage.

When the user of the mobile phone moves to a country with a different frequency, the user operates the operation unit to specify the country (step S1). The control unit of the mobile phone sends a time correction command to the time correction means 23 and a frequency switching command to the frequency switching means 22 to instruct time correction processing and frequency switching processing. The time correction means 23 determines whether or not there is a standard frequency time signal station in the instructed country based on preset control information, and if the standard frequency time information station is in the country concerned, the standard frequency time information station is set. The time is corrected based on the received signal of the frequency from the time signal station, and if there is no standard frequency time signal station, it is based on the time difference information between the current country (or reference country) and the designated country. The time is corrected (step S2). On the other hand, the frequency switching means 22 stores the frequency control information (voltage control information in this example) of the frequency of the communication method set in correspondence with the commanded country.
Is read (step S3), the voltage value applied to the filter and the synthesizer for frequency conversion is changed to switch the transmission / reception frequency, and control is performed so that communication is performed at the frequency of the country (step S4).

Next, a second embodiment of the mobile phone according to the present invention will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG.
Compared to the first embodiment, the second embodiment further includes country recognition means for automatically recognizing the "country" (or area) in which the mobile phone is currently located, and the frequency of the country is identified. It is configured to switch automatically. The country recognition means 25 shown in FIG. 1 is provided with, for example, position information reception means for receiving position information from GPS satellites, and automatically recognizes the country currently located from position information and map information. Alternatively, the country recognition means 25 may use the time signal information of the standard frequency time signal station described above. That is, in a country having a standard frequency time signal station, ITU-R (International Telecommunicatio
The country can be recognized by the identification signal of the transmitting country included in the n-Radio communication Sector) signal or the like. As described above, in the second embodiment, the country where the mobile phone is currently located is automatically recognized, communication is automatically performed in accordance with the frequency of the country, and the date and time are corrected.

In the above-described embodiments, the case where the present invention is applied to the mobile phone has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to the mobile phone, and a portable notebook computer having a communication function or a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant).
It can also be applied to the mobile computer of s).

[0019]

As described above, according to the present invention, the frequency used in the communication of the wireless communication device is switched to the frequency suitable for the country or region to perform the communication. The wireless communication device can be used even when moving to a different country or region.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration example of a wireless communication device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining an operation example of the wireless communication device according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 wireless communication device 11 Display 12 Operation part 13 Voice input section 14 Audio output section 15 power supply 16 Memory 20 Control unit 21 Transmitter / receiver 22 Frequency switching means 23 Time correction means 24 Signal processor 25 Country Recognition Means

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. In a wireless communication device capable of wireless mobile communication via a wireless network of a mobile communication system, the frequency of the mobile communication is switched to a frequency used in the communication system of the commanded country. A wireless communication device comprising a frequency switching means, wherein the mobile communication is performed by switching to a frequency of the country of destination. 2. The radio communication device according to claim 1, wherein the switching of the frequency is performed by voltage control of a circuit having a synthesizer. 3. The wireless communication device according to claim 1, wherein the switching of the frequency is performed by switching a circuit and an antenna corresponding to the frequency. 4. The wireless communication device according to claim 1, wherein the instruction of the country is based on operation information of an operation unit of the wireless communication device. 5. A country recognition means for automatically recognizing a country in which the wireless communication device is currently located is provided, and the instruction of the country is made based on the recognition information of the country recognition means. The wireless communication device according to claim 1. 6. The wireless communication device according to claim 1, wherein the wireless communication device is a mobile phone. 7. A time correction means for automatically correcting the date and time to the date and time of the country concerned.
The wireless communication device according to any one of 1. 8. The wireless communication device according to claim 1, wherein the communication system can be changed to a communication system available in the instructed country.