JP2003244766A - Data communication apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a data communication apparatus capable of being easily restored to a state before interruption even when the interruption takes place in wireless communication between a slave unit and a master unit at data communication by the slave unit. <P>SOLUTION: When the slave unit 3 starts a browser to start communication, the master unit 2 is connected to a Web server 5 via a public telephone line network 4. A control section 34 of the slave unit 3 stores a communication state of data received from the Web server 5 and a wireless section 31 transmits the communication state to the master unit 2 when a user depresses a transmission key or a voltage drop detection circuit 36 detects a voltage drop of a battery 35. When the communication between the slave unit 3 and the master unit 2 is restarted, the communication state having been received and stored by the master unit 2 is transmitted to the slave unit 3 to restore the communication to a state when the interruption takes place. <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 data communication apparatus for performing data communication via a public line network, and more specifically to a master unit connected to the public line network and a slave unit for performing wireless communication with the master unit. The present invention relates to a data communication device having a slave unit that performs data communication via a master unit, such as a so-called cordless telephone.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the development of today's communication technology, users of communication devices can receive various communication services. Data communication is one of the communication services.
Data communication is transmission and reception of data such as images and programs between terminal devices typified by personal computers (PCs) via a communication line.
C is connected to the public line network via a modem, and a Web server on the Internet, FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
It is possible to download HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) documents and application software from the server.

In particular, PHS (Personal Handyphone System) equipped with a browser for browsing HTML documents
With the spread of mobile phones such as PDC (Personal Digital Cellular) and the like, it has become possible to browse a home page by connecting the mobile phone to the Internet from a wireless communication network.

Recently, some cordless telephones connected to a general wired telephone line are equipped with a browser. By connecting the cordless telephone to the Internet, it is possible to easily browse a home page and send and receive e-mail. There is. In addition, this cordless telephone is composed of a master unit connected to a wired telephone line and a slave unit connected to the master unit via wireless communication, and it is possible to browse the homepage and send and receive e-mails from each unit. .

[0005]

When browsing a home page with a browser, when a specific character string or image on the home page is selected, new home page data such as detailed explanation of the selected portion is downloaded. The selected portion and the homepage data are associated with each other in advance (this is called a link), and the viewer can obtain various information while selecting the specific portion (following the link) as necessary. Further, as a selection method, there is a method of moving a pointer to a specific portion with a mouse and clicking, selecting a specific portion with a cursor key of a keyboard, and pressing a decision key to confirm. In addition to this, U indicating the position of the link destination data
There is also a method of directly inputting an RL (Uniform Resource Locator) into the browser.

Since portable terminal devices such as mobile phones and cordless telephone handsets are not equipped with an input device such as a mouse, it is not possible to move a pointer to select a specific portion. Also, since the keys provided in the portable terminal device are mainly numeric keys,
The task of inputting the URL becomes very troublesome. Therefore, in a portable terminal device, a method of using 2 or 4 cursor keys and a decision key is most often used as a method of following a link, downloading new homepage data, and browsing information. .

Further, in the cordless telephone, when browsing (browsing) a home page on the slave unit, the battery of the slave unit runs out while following various links, and wireless communication with the master unit occurs. May be cut off. Since the user follows the link while operating the cursor key, the user of the child device cannot know the URL of the homepage data displayed before disconnection. Therefore,
In order to return to the state before disconnecting, it is necessary to follow the link again from the initial home page that has been set in advance, but in many cases the user does not remember the link that was followed, which is very troublesome to return. The operation becomes necessary.

An object of the present invention is to provide a data communication device capable of easily returning to the state before disconnection even if the wireless communication between the slave unit and the master unit is disconnected during data communication by the slave unit. Is.

[0009]

The present invention has a master unit for performing data communication by connecting to a public line network, and a wireless communication unit for performing wireless communication with the master unit. Data is transmitted via the master unit. A data communication device comprising a slave unit that performs communication, wherein the slave unit has a control unit that transmits the communication state of data communication performed via the master unit to the master unit by the wireless communication unit. It is a data communication device characterized by the above.

According to the present invention, the slave unit has a wireless communication means for performing wireless communication with the master unit, and can perform data communication via the master unit that is connected to the public line network and performs data communication. . The control unit of the slave unit transmits the communication state of the data communication performed via the master unit to the master unit by wireless communication. By transmitting the communication state of the data communication to the master unit, even if the wireless communication between the slave unit and the master unit is disconnected during the data communication, the communication information can be received from the master unit when the communication is restarted. As a result, it is possible to easily return to the state before disconnection without performing a troublesome operation when communication is restarted from the child device.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that the slave unit has an instruction unit for a user to instruct the control unit to transmit the communication state.

According to the present invention, the cordless handset is provided with the instructing means for the user to instruct the control means to transmit the communication state. Can be sent to the base unit.

Further, according to the present invention, the slave unit has a rechargeable battery for generating a power supply voltage, and a detection means for detecting that the voltage value of the rechargeable battery has dropped below a predetermined voltage value, and the control means. Is characterized in that the communication state is transmitted when the detection means outputs a detection result.

According to the present invention, when the voltage value of the rechargeable battery for generating the power supply voltage drops below a predetermined voltage value, the communication state is transmitted to the master unit. As a result, even if the communication is suddenly disconnected due to the voltage drop of the rechargeable battery,
The communication status can be transmitted to the parent device.

According to the present invention, the data communication device has a plurality of slave units, the wireless communication unit wirelessly communicates with another slave unit, and the control unit sets the communication state to other slave units. It is characterized by transmitting to the machine.

According to the present invention, the data communication device is provided with a plurality of slaves, and the wireless communication means of the slaves wirelessly communicates with other slaves. Since the control means transmits the communication status to the other slaves, even if the communication is disconnected, the other slaves can promptly resume the communication from the disconnected state.

[0017]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A cordless telephone as an embodiment of a data communication apparatus of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the cordless telephone 1. The cordless telephone 1 includes a master device 2 and a slave device 3. The main | base station 2 consists of the line interface part 21, the radio | wireless part 22, the display part 23, the operation part 24, and the control part 25, and the handset 3 has the control part 31 and the radio | wireless part 3.
2, a display unit 33, an operation unit 34, a battery 35, and a power reduction detection circuit 36.

The public telephone line network 4 includes a Web server 5,
A mail server or the like is connected, and the base unit 2 connects to the public telephone line network 4 via the line interface unit 21 to perform data communication with these servers.

The line interface section 21 controls input / output with the telephone exchange, and the radio section 22 carries out radio communication with the handset 3. The display unit 23 displays data such as an operation menu of the master device 2, a communication state, and an HTML document received by data communication. The operation unit 24 has function keys and cursor keys for instructing start / end of communication, operation of a browser, and the like, and numeric keys for inputting a telephone number and the like, and the user inputs by using each key. Control unit 2
5 is realized by a microcomputer or the like, and controls the entire master unit 2 including the above-mentioned units. The base unit 2 may be provided with a handset for making a call, and the line interface unit 21 and the control unit 25 transmit and receive voice data during a call.

The slave unit 3 enables data communication with the master unit 2 by performing wireless communication with the wireless unit 22 on the master unit 2 side, and further performs data communication with the Web server 5 and the like via the master unit 2. To do.

The wireless unit 31 is a wireless communication means for wirelessly communicating with the wireless unit 22 on the base unit 2 side. The display unit 32 displays data such as an operation menu of the child device 3, a communication state, and an HTML document received via the parent device. The operation unit 33 includes function keys and cursor keys for instructing start / end of communication, operation of a browser, and the like, and numeric keys for inputting a telephone number and the like, and the user inputs by using each key. The control unit 34 is a control unit that is realized by a microcomputer or the like and controls the entire slave unit 3 including the above-mentioned units. Although not shown, a microphone and a speaker for making a call are provided, and the radio unit 31 and the control unit 34 transmit and receive voice data via the base unit 2 during a call.

The battery 35 is a rechargeable battery that generates a power supply voltage for driving each unit of the slave unit 3. The power reduction detection circuit 36 monitors the generated voltage of the battery 35, compares it with a predetermined voltage value, and outputs a detection result to the control unit 34 when the voltage of the battery 35 drops below a predetermined voltage value. Is.

With the configuration of the cordless telephone 1 as described above, it is possible to carry out data communication with both the base unit 2 and the handset unit 3, especially when connecting to the Internet and browsing a home page. The child device 3 capable of performing is mainly used.

In order to browse the home page, it is necessary to start the browser and input information (URL: Uniform Resource Locator) such as the server name, communication protocol, file name, etc. where the HTML document to be browsed is placed. The input using the keys of the operation unit 33 of the child device 3 is a very troublesome operation. Therefore, cordless handset 3
The operation is performed by selecting a character string, an image, or the like displayed in advance on the home page with the cursor key, and receiving the URL data associated with them. Since the user performs data communication by repeating the so-called “follow link” operation, the data communication proceeds without knowing the data currently displayed on the display unit 32 or the URL of the data displayed so far.

If the user does not know the URL of the data,
If the wireless communication with the parent device 2 is cut off because the power of the child device 3 is turned off during the data communication, it is difficult to return to the disconnected state. Cordless handset 3
The communication state of the data communication performed by the master unit 2 is stored, and the wireless unit 31 can transmit the communication state to the master unit. In the master unit 2, the slave unit 3
The wireless unit 22 receives the communication state transmitted from the control unit 25, and the control unit 25 stores the received communication state.

Here, the communication state is information necessary for promptly returning to the disconnected state after the wireless communication between the slave unit 3 and the master unit 2 is disconnected. For example, the data displayed on the display unit 32 at the time of disconnection, all the data displayed on the display unit 32 for a predetermined period until disconnection, and the like. Further, instead of the data itself, the URL of the data displayed on the display unit 32 at the time of disconnection or the URL of all the data displayed on the display unit 32 for a predetermined period until the disconnection may be used.

When the wireless communication with the slave 3 is resumed, the master 2 transmits data to the slave 3 based on the communication state stored in the control unit 25. If the stored communication state is data, the stored data is transmitted from the wireless unit 22. If the stored communication state is the URL, only the URL may be transmitted to the slave unit 3, or the data of the URL may be received by connecting to the public telephone line network 4 and the received data may be transmitted to the wireless unit 22. You may make it transmit from.

As described above, if the communication state of the slave unit 3 is transmitted to the master unit 2 in advance, it can be easily restored to the disconnected state when the communication is restarted. Therefore, the user does not need to perform a troublesome operation such as following the same link as before disconnection in order to recover.

The communication status transmission process will be described in detail below. There are the following two types of transmission processing of the communication state from the slave 3 to the master 2. There are a case of transmitting to the base unit 2 when a transmission instruction is given from the user and a case of automatically transmitting to the base unit 2 when the voltage of the battery 35 drops to a predetermined value.

First, the case of transmitting the communication state in response to an instruction from the user will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In step s101, the browser is activated by the user's operation, and communication for browsing the home page is performed. The detailed operation at this time is as follows.

When the user performs a communication start operation such as starting a browser from the operation unit 33 while the slave unit 3 is in the standby state, the control unit 34 is notified of a signal to that effect. The control unit 34 analyzes the signal notified by the operation unit 33, modulates the signal in the wireless unit 31 into a wireless signal, and transmits the wireless signal to the base unit 2. When the wireless unit 22 of the parent device 2 receives the wireless signal from the wireless unit 31 of the child device 3, the wireless signal is demodulated and notified to the control unit 25. Control unit 25
From the line interface unit 21 to the public telephone line network 4
The communication with the Web server 5 is started via.

The data acquired from the Web server 5 is sent to the control unit 25, and is sent to the handset 3 by wireless communication.
The control unit 34 of the child device 3 accumulates the received data and displays it on the display unit 32 as a home page. The URL of the home page displayed at the start of communication may be input by the user or may be registered in advance.

In the next step s102, the control unit 34 of the handset 3 monitors and determines whether or not the transmission key is pressed by the user. The transmission key is assigned to any of the function keys of the operation unit 33, and is an instruction unit that the user inputs at the timing when the communication information is desired to be transmitted.
If the user presses the send key, step s103
If the send key is not pressed, the monitoring continues.

In step s103, the control unit 3 of the slave unit 3
The communication state stored in No. 4 is transmitted from the wireless unit 31 to the master unit 2. The communication status here is data acquired from the Web server 5 and stored in the control unit 34. The parent device 2 stores the received data in the control unit 25 and displays it on the display unit 23.

In step s104, the communication is ended by the operation of the user. A signal indicating the end of communication is transmitted from the control unit 34 of the slave unit 3 to the master unit 2 via the wireless unit 31, and the slave unit 3 shifts to the standby state. The base unit 2 that has received the communication end signal ends the wireless communication with the handset 3.

As described above, when the transmission key is pressed by the user, the communication state is transmitted from the handset unit 3 to the base unit 2. Therefore, the communication state can be transmitted when the user desires.

When the communication between the handset 3 and the base unit 2 is restarted, the stored data is transmitted from the base unit 2 to the handset 3 and the state at the time of disconnection can be restored.

Next, the case of automatically transmitting the communication state when the voltage of the battery 35 drops will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In step s201,
A browser is activated by a user operation, and communication for browsing a home page is performed. The detailed operation at this time is the same as step s101 in FIG.

In the next step s202, the battery 35
The power reduction detection circuit 36 that monitors the voltage of 1 determines whether or not the voltage has dropped below a predetermined voltage value. For the predetermined voltage value, a voltage value slightly higher than the limit value at which the child device 3 can operate is set in advance. If the voltage of the battery 35 has dropped to the set voltage value or less, the detection result is output from the power reduction detection circuit 36, and the process proceeds to step s203. If the voltage has not dropped, voltage monitoring continues.

In step s203, step s in FIG.
Similarly to 103, the communication state stored in the control unit 34 of the child device 3 is transmitted from the wireless unit 31 to the parent device 2. The parent device 2 stores the received data in the control unit 25 and displays it on the display unit 23.

At step s204, the communication is ended by the user's operation or the judgment of the control section 34. A signal indicating the end of communication is transmitted from the control unit 34 of the child device 3 to the parent device 2 via the wireless unit 31. The base unit 2 that has received the communication end signal ends the wireless communication with the handset 3. When the communication end signal is not transmitted, the wireless communication is ended at the discretion of the base unit 2.

As described above, when the voltage of the battery 35 drops below a predetermined voltage value, the communication state is transmitted from the handset 3 to the base 2, so that the communication is suddenly cut off due to the voltage drop of the battery 35. Even in such a case, the communication status can be transmitted to the master device 2.

When the communication between the handset 3 and the base unit 2 is resumed, the stored data is transmitted from the base unit 2 to the handset 3 and the state at the time of disconnection can be restored.

In the above description, as shown in FIG.
Although the case where one child device is provided for each machine has been described, the number of child devices is not limited to one, and a plurality of child devices may be provided. At this time, the transmission destination of the communication state may be another slave device instead of the master device. This can be realized by enabling wireless communication between the wireless units of the slaves and selecting destinations such as the master and slaves, only the master, or only the slave. The destination may be selected by the user at the time of transmission or may be set in advance. By sending the communication status to other slaves,
Even if the communication is disconnected, the communication can be promptly restarted from the state at the time of disconnection by another slave.

Further, although the cordless telephone has been described in the present embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this, and the data communication is performed with the master unit which is connected to the public line network and performs the data communication through the master unit by wireless communication. The present invention can be applied to a data communication device including a child device.

[0047]

As described above, according to the present invention, by transmitting the communication status of data communication to the master unit, the communication information can be received from the master unit when the communication is restarted. It is possible to easily return to the state before cutting without performing a troublesome operation.

Further, according to the present invention, when the user desires, it is possible to input the communication state to the master unit by inputting it from the instruction means provided in the slave unit.

Further, according to the present invention, even when the communication is suddenly cut off due to the voltage drop of the rechargeable battery, the communication status can be transmitted to the master unit.

Further, according to the present invention, when a plurality of slave units are provided, the communication status is transmitted to other slave units.
Even if the communication is disconnected, the communication can be promptly restarted from the state at the time of disconnection by another slave.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a cordless telephone 1.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a process of transmitting a communication state according to an instruction from a user.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a process of automatically transmitting a communication state when the voltage of a battery 35 drops.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 cordless telephone 2 parent machine 3 cordless handsets 4 Public telephone network 5 Web server 21 Line interface section 22,31 Radio unit 23, 32 Display 24, 33 Operation unit 25,34 Control unit 35 battery 36 Low voltage detection circuit

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F-term (reference) 5K027 AA12 EE00                 5K034 AA17 DD01 EE03 FF01 FF13                       HH01 HH02 NN22                 5K067 AA34 BB04 BB08 EE02 EE10                       EE22 FF19 FF23 GG01 HH07                       HH22 HH23 HH24 KK05

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A master unit for performing data communication by connecting to a public line network, and a slave unit having a wireless communication unit for performing wireless communication with the master unit and performing data communication via the master unit. A data communication device, wherein the slave unit has a control unit that transmits a communication state of data communication performed via the master unit to the master unit by the wireless communication unit. . 2. The data communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the slave unit has an instruction unit for a user to instruct the control unit to transmit the communication state. 3. The slave unit includes a rechargeable battery that generates a power supply voltage, and a detection unit that detects that the voltage value of the rechargeable battery has dropped below a predetermined voltage value, and the control unit includes: The communication state is transmitted when the detection means outputs a detection result.
Alternatively, the data communication device according to item 2. 4. The data communication device has a plurality of slave units, the wireless communication unit wirelessly communicates with another slave unit, and the control unit sets the communication state to other slave units. It transmits, The data communication apparatus of any one of Claims 1-3 characterized by the above-mentioned.