JP2004120542A - Portable terminal having camera - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a portable terminal having a camera for instantaneously transmitting an image in real time by a single switching operation. <P>SOLUTION: In the portable terminal having the camera equipped with an imaging means and an image transmission means, an image transmission switch is provided at an input operation section provided in the body of the portable terminal 100 having the camera, and the image at an imaging section 52 is automatically transmitted to a transmitting party that has been inputted by the image transmission means in the switching operation. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a camera-equipped portable terminal, and more particularly to a camera-equipped portable terminal that is convenient for instantaneously transmitting an image shown in a built-in camera.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, mobile terminals such as mobile phones and PHS have become widespread. Some of these portable terminals are equipped with a digital camera and can transmit a photographed image together with text information or voice information.
[0003]
In such a camera-equipped mobile terminal, an image is captured by operating a predetermined button or the like, and the captured image data is stored in the memory (local folder) of the mobile terminal as an image library, and then mail or the like is sent. It was common to attach a photographic image to the image and send it.
[0004]
An electronic still camera with a mobile phone function has also been proposed as a similar function (see Patent Document 1). This electronic still camera with a mobile phone function enables a captured image to be transmitted to a large storage medium at another location using a telephone line.
[0005]
Further, as a similar technique, there is a proposal for performing voice recognition by a push button operation in a mobile phone terminal (see Patent Document 2).
[0006]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-133081
[Patent Document 2]
JP 2000-115334 A
[0008]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the conventional camera-equipped mobile terminal or the like, the operation becomes extremely complicated when the photograph image is attached and transmitted. In addition, it is difficult to send a photographic image as a result.
[0009]
The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a camera-equipped mobile terminal capable of instantaneously sending a real-time image by a single switch operation.
[0010]
The prior art (Patent Document 2) performs speech recognition by a single push button operation, and is different from a technique for transmitting a captured image.
[0011]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a camera-equipped mobile terminal including an imaging unit and an image transmission unit, wherein an input operation unit provided in the camera-equipped mobile terminal body is provided with an image transmission switch. And a camera-equipped mobile terminal that automatically transmits an image shown on the imaging means when the switch is operated to a transmission destination already input by the image transmission means by a single operation of the image transmission switch. provide.
[0012]
Further, the present invention provides a camera-equipped mobile terminal including an imaging unit and an image transmission unit, wherein an input operation unit provided in the camera-equipped mobile terminal body is provided with a switch for shooting and image transmission. A camera-equipped mobile terminal characterized in that, by one operation of the switch, imaging by the imaging unit is performed, and the captured image is automatically transmitted to an input destination input by the image transmission unit. provide.
[0013]
According to the present invention, a real-time image can be sent instantaneously by a single switch operation, and the convenience is greatly improved. Among these, the former (Claim 1) configuration automatically transmits an image (for example, a through image of a digital camera) reflected on the image pickup means when the switch is operated, and the latter (Claim 2) configuration. In this mode, imaging is performed when a switch is operated, and this image is automatically transmitted.
[0014]
For example, if a woman is walking on the road at night and is in a dangerous eye, if it is a normal mobile terminal with a camera, the terminal may be taken up or destroyed before shooting. However, according to the camera-equipped mobile terminal of the present invention, since an image can be transferred instantaneously at the time of shooting, for example, even if the terminal is subsequently taken up or broken, the image has already been transmitted. Therefore, it is also effective for crime prevention.
[0015]
In the present invention, it is preferable that a voice transmitting / receiving means is further provided. This is because the convenience is improved if the voice transmitting / receiving means is provided.
[0016]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Preferred embodiments of a camera-equipped mobile terminal according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0017]
FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of a communication system including a camera-equipped mobile terminal according to the present invention. As shown in the figure, this communication system is a system that can simultaneously transmit and receive audio and images between the mobile terminals 100, 100 ′ with a camera. The camera-equipped mobile terminal 100 and the camera-equipped mobile terminal 100 ′ have the same function, and are next-generation mobile phones using wireless access schemes such as W-CDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) and cdma2000.
[0018]
A normal voice call is executed between the camera-equipped mobile terminal 100 and the camera-equipped mobile terminal 100 ′ that is the other party of the call with the camera-equipped mobile terminal 100, and the voice data includes a mobile phone network 200 including a carrier (not shown). Are sent and received via.
[0019]
Each of these camera-equipped mobile terminals 100, 100 ′ has a built-in digital camera. The camera-equipped portable terminal 100 and the camera-equipped portable terminal 100 ′ have the same communication function.
[0020]
Now, when transmitting an image from the camera-equipped mobile terminal 100 to the camera-equipped mobile terminal 100 ′, the camera-equipped mobile terminal 100 opens a communication channel of a predetermined band and establishes a transmission path to the camera-side mobile terminal 100 ′ that is the other party. Secure. The camera-equipped mobile terminal 100 ′ is connected to the communication channel and receives an image from the camera-equipped mobile terminal 100. At this time, the mobile phone network 200 relays both the audio packet and the image packet between the camera-equipped mobile terminals 100 and 100 ′ at the same time.
[0021]
FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the camera-equipped mobile terminal 100. As shown in the figure, the camera-equipped mobile terminal 100 includes a transmission / reception unit 12, a memory 14, a display unit 16, a protocol conversion unit 18, a wireless communication unit 22 having an antenna 20, a controller 24, a key input unit 26, and the like. Has been. Note that a microphone, a speaker, and the like for functioning as a normal mobile phone are also provided, but are omitted in FIG.
[0022]
The digital camera 50 incorporated in the camera-equipped mobile terminal 100 includes an imaging unit 52 having an unillustrated lens and an imaging element such as a CCD disposed behind the lens, an image memory 54, a compression / decompression processing unit 56, The image display unit 58, the recording / reproducing unit 60, the controller 24, the key input unit 26, and the like are included.
[0023]
The image display unit 58 also serves as the display unit 16 of the camera-equipped mobile terminal 100, and the controller and the key input unit are configured to use those of the camera-equipped mobile terminal 100.
[0024]
The protocol conversion unit 18 is a processing block that converts data to be transmitted according to a predetermined communication protocol, and the converted data is added to the wireless communication unit 22. The wireless communication unit 22 is a processing unit that converts the transmission data received from the protocol conversion unit 18 into a predetermined communication signal and decodes the data received via the antenna 20.
[0025]
The controller 24 is a control processing unit that controls each circuit block of the camera-equipped mobile terminal 100, and controls each circuit block based on an instruction signal input from the key input unit 26.
[0026]
The key input unit 26 is a block including operation keys such as a numeric keypad of a normal mobile phone. Further, the key input unit 26 is provided with an image transmission key which is a dedicated image transmission switch in addition to the key used in a normal mobile phone. An image shown in the image pickup unit 52 can be automatically transmitted when the key is operated.
[0027]
The operation of the camera-equipped mobile terminal 100 configured as described above will be described. First, an image transmission operation used in a normal mobile phone will be described, and then an automatic transmission operation by operating a dedicated image transmission switch will be described.
[0028]
The digital camera 50 built in the camera-equipped mobile terminal 100 is normally in a shooting mode. Here, when the user presses the shutter button, an image is taken and the mode is shifted to the transmission mode. That is, image information captured by the image capturing unit 52 of the digital camera 50 is converted into electronic image data through predetermined signal processing and stored in the image memory 54.
[0029]
The image data stored in the image memory 54 is added to the compression / decompression processing unit 56, compressed there, and then sent to the transmission / reception unit 12. The transmission / reception unit 12 includes packet multiplexing means, divides the image data received from the compression / decompression processing unit 56 into packets, and sets the data type (that is, information indicating the image data) in the header information of each packet. Append.
[0030]
The camera-equipped mobile terminal 100 opens a communication channel in a different band from that of the call and secures a transmission path to the camera-side mobile terminal 100 ′ that is the other party of the call. Packets (image packets) from the digital camera 50 are temporarily stored in the memory 14.
[0031]
The image packet temporarily stored in the memory 14 is added with header information such as destination information (for example, the phone number of the camera-equipped mobile terminal 100 ′), sender information (phone number of the camera-equipped mobile terminal 100), and the like in the protocol conversion unit 18. And sent to the wireless communication unit 22 in accordance with a predetermined protocol. The image packet input to the wireless communication unit 22 is transmitted from the antenna 20 to the call partner via the mobile phone network 200.
[0032]
The mobile terminal 100 ′ with camera of the other party of the call receives the image packet via the antenna 20 ′ and the wireless communication unit 22 ′ and temporarily stores it in the memory 14 ′, while the image arrives based on the information. Is displayed on the image display unit 16 ′.
[0033]
When the mode switching button is pressed in the camera-equipped mobile terminal 100 ′, the camera-equipped mobile terminal 100 ′ shifts to the reception mode and takes in the image packets temporarily stored in the memory 14 ′. The captured image packet is assembled by the packet multiplexing means of the transmission / reception unit 12 ′, and the assembled image data is decompressed by the compression / decompression unit 56 ′ and then displayed on the image display unit 58 ′. It is displayed and recorded on the recording medium in the recording / reproducing unit 60 ′ as necessary.
[0034]
Next, an automatic transmission operation by operating a dedicated image transmission switch will be described. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a main part of the camera-equipped mobile terminal 100 at the time of automatic transmission. First, as a premise of automatic image transmission, it is necessary to determine a transmission destination. Therefore, destination registration is performed in advance.
[0035]
As a specific operation, the photograph transmission destination of the display unit 16 (FIG. 4A) shown in the conceptual diagram showing an example of input of the transmission destination address of the camera-equipped mobile terminal in FIG. 4 is searched (step S1). A photo transmission destination is selected from among them by button input (step S2), and is registered as shown in FIG. 4B (step S3).
[0036]
When an image transmission key (button), which is a dedicated image transmission switch, is pressed during automatic transmission (step S4), the controller 24 confirms the current status (status monitoring) (step S5). Photographing is performed by the imaging unit 52 (step S6).
[0037]
The image information and the transmission destination information taken into the memory 54 by the imaging unit 52 are subjected to communication control by the controller 24 or the like (step S7) and transmitted (step S8).
[0038]
In this way, when the image transmission key is pressed in a state where the transmission destination registration has been performed in advance (step S4), the image shown in the imaging means at that time is automatically transmitted.
[0039]
The series of operations in the camera-equipped mobile terminal 100 at this time is substantially the same as the flow of image transmission in the normal mobile phone described above with reference to FIG. .
[0040]
As mentioned above, although the example of embodiment of the portable terminal with a camera which concerns on this invention was demonstrated, this invention is not limited to the example of the said embodiment, Various aspects can be taken. For example, in the example of the present embodiment, both the transmission side and the reception side are mobile phones provided with audio transmission / reception means, imaging means, and image transmission / reception means, but this combination is not necessarily required.
[0041]
The object of the present invention can be achieved if the transmitting-side portable terminal includes an audio transmission / reception unit, an imaging unit, and an image transmission unit. In addition, the receiving side is not necessarily a portable terminal such as a mobile phone, and it may be anything provided with voice receiving means and image receiving means.
[0042]
Also, if immediate transmission is not possible due to poor radio wave conditions, image information is stored in a buffer (memory) so that automatic transmission can be performed when the radio wave conditions are good. It may be.
[0043]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, a real-time image can be sent instantaneously by a single switch operation, and the convenience is greatly improved.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of a communication system including a camera-equipped mobile terminal according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the camera-equipped mobile terminal. FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of input of a transmission destination address of a camera-equipped mobile terminal.
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 12 ... Transmission / reception part, 14 ... Memory, 16 ... Display part, 18 ... Protocol conversion part, 20 ... Antenna, 22 ... Wireless communication part, 24 ... Controller, 26 ... Key input part, 50 ... Digital camera, 52 ... Imaging part, 54 ... Image memory, 56 ... Compression / decompression processing unit, 100, 100 '... Mobile terminal with camera, 200, 200' ... Mobile phone network

Claims (3)

In a portable terminal with a camera provided with an imaging means and an image transmission means,
The input operation unit provided in the camera-equipped mobile terminal body is provided with an image transmission switch,
A camera-equipped mobile terminal, wherein an image displayed on an image pickup unit at the time of switch operation is automatically transmitted to a destination already input by the image transmission unit by a single operation of the image transmission switch. In a portable terminal with a camera provided with an imaging means and an image transmission means,
The input operation unit provided in the camera-equipped mobile terminal body is provided with a switch for shooting and image transmission,
A camera-equipped mobile terminal that causes the imaging unit to perform imaging by a single operation of the switch, and causes the captured image to be automatically transmitted to an input destination by the image transmission unit. Furthermore, the portable terminal with a camera of any one of Claim 1 or 2 provided with the audio | voice transmission / reception means.

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