JP2005025464A - Portable terminal device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform radio communication with high quality through the use of a radio communication card by preventing the radio communication card mounted on a card slot from being deteriorated in communication characteristics. <P>SOLUTION: A signal processing circuit 17 determines the kind of the card 2 to be mounted on the card slots 11, 12, and displays in a display device 13 information to indicate which one of the card slots 11, 12 is suitable for the mounting destination of the mounting object card when the mounting object card is the radio communication card. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a portable terminal device including a plurality of card slots into which a card having an antenna for wireless communication can be mounted.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, portable terminal devices such as electronic notebooks, PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants), and portable personal computers often do not have a wireless communication function. In such a portable terminal device, a wireless communication function is realized by inserting a card having a wireless communication function into a general-purpose card slot.
[0003]
By the way, in recent years, various types of cards such as mobile phone cards, PHS (Personal Handyphone System) cards, wireless LAN (Local Area Network) cards, or Bluetooth cards, even if they have the same wireless communication function. Exists. In addition to the wireless communication function, there are various cards each having functions such as a camera function and a TV tuner function. There is a user need to install a plurality of such various cards in the mobile terminal device.
[0004]
For these reasons, a mobile terminal device may be provided with a plurality of card slots (see Patent Documents 1 to 4). When providing a plurality of card slots, the position of the card slot is determined in consideration of the arrangement of other modules constituting the mobile terminal device. For this reason, the position of the card slot in the existing portable terminal device varies.
[0005]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-8-56379 [0006]
[Patent Document 2]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-191486
[Patent Document 3]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-331569
[Patent Document 4]
JP 2000-315292 A
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Now, a card having a wireless communication function is equipped with an antenna. In general, the characteristics of an antenna change depending on a housing or a substrate to which the antenna is connected. This is because high-frequency current leaks to the housing and the substrate, and these also operate as a kind of antenna. Therefore, the antenna has a position that is optimal when placed on the terminal. In other words, depending on the location where the antenna is disposed, the communication performance may be significantly reduced.
[0010]
In particular, the antenna mounted on the card is desired to be small. In the case of a small antenna, the influence of the arrangement position on the casing is particularly remarkable. This is because in the case of a small antenna, when the antenna is miniaturized, radiation from the antenna is reduced, and radiation from the housing is larger than the antenna itself.
[0011]
However, since the position of the card slot is not provided at a position that takes into consideration the wireless characteristics of such a card, the communication quality may change depending on the mounting state of the card having a wireless communication function. And if it was not in an appropriate wearing situation, there was a problem that communication quality would deteriorate.
[0012]
The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide communication characteristics of a wireless communication card installed in the card slot in a portable terminal device having a plurality of card slots. In other words, the wireless communication using the wireless communication card can be performed with high quality.
[0013]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a plurality of card slots into which a plurality of types of cards including a wireless communication card can be mounted, a determination unit that determines the type of a card to be mounted, and a determination result of the determination unit And a means for displaying information indicating one card slot suitable as a mounting destination of the mounting target card when the mounting target card is the wireless communication card.
[0014]
By taking such means, the type of the card to be mounted is determined, for example, before being mounted or temporarily mounted, and if the card to be mounted is a wireless communication card, the card to be mounted is mounted. Information indicating one card slot suitable for the destination is displayed. Accordingly, the user is prompted to install the wireless communication card in a card slot suitable as a mounting destination of the wireless communication card among the plurality of card slots.
[0015]
In order to achieve the above object, another aspect of the present invention provides a housing having first and second partial housing portions and a hinge that foldably connects the first and second partial housing portions; A wireless communication card having an antenna provided on each of the first and second partial housing portions is mounted in a state where at least a part of the antenna protrudes from the first and second partial housing portions. A first card slot and a second card slot that can be mounted so that the protruding portion of the wireless communication card is not opposed to each other in either the opened state or the folded state of the first and second partial housing portions. Equipped with.
[0016]
By taking such a means, even if a wireless communication card is inserted in each of the first and second card slots, the wireless communication card protrudes from the first and second partial housing portions. The parts do not oppose each other in either the opened state or the folded state of the first and second partial housing parts. Therefore, the antennas accommodated in the projecting portions are not close to each other.
[0017]
In order to achieve the above object, another aspect of the present invention provides a first wireless communication card operable for one communication system or a second wireless communication card operable for a plurality of communication systems. Measures communication quality in multiple communication modes with different combinations of operating states of a plurality of card slots that can be respectively installed and the same communication system used for the wireless communication and wireless communication cards that are respectively installed in the plurality of card slots. And means for selecting one communication form having the best communication quality from the plurality of communication forms.
[0018]
By adopting such means, when a plurality of wireless communication cards are installed in a plurality of card slots, the same communication system is used for the wireless communication, and the wireless communication is installed in each of the plurality of card slots. Communication quality in a plurality of communication modes with different combinations of card operating states is measured, and one communication mode with the best communication quality is selected from the plurality of communication modes. Therefore, higher quality communication can be performed by using the selected communication form.
[0019]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0020]
(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the mobile terminal device 1 according to the first embodiment.
The mobile terminal device 1 includes card slots 11 and 12, a display device 13, a control circuit 14, an input device 15, a storage device 16, and a signal processing circuit 17.
[0021]
In the card slots 11 and 12, a card 2 is arbitrarily mounted. The card slots 11 and 12 are general-purpose compliant with existing card standards. Therefore, the card 2 that can be mounted in the card slots 11 and 12 may be any card that conforms to the same card standard. As the card 2, various types such as a communication card, a memory card, and a camera card are known.
[0022]
The display device 13 includes a liquid crystal display, for example, and displays an image showing various information notified to the user. The control circuit 14 controls image information to be drawn on the display device 13.
[0023]
The input device 15 includes a keyboard, for example, and inputs information specified by the user.
[0024]
The storage device 16 includes a memory LSI and a hard disk, and stores various types of information. In the storage device 16, information describing the type of card and which of the card slots 11 and 12 is suitable for mounting the card of that type (hereinafter referred to as conforming information) is written in advance.
[0025]
The signal processing circuit 17 is a digital signal processing circuit including a CPU, for example. The signal processing circuit 17 implements various functions of the mobile terminal device 1 by controlling the above-described units. The various functions described above are functions that existing portable terminals such as an electronic notebook, PDA, or portable personal computer have. The signal processing circuit 17 also performs processing for notifying the user which of the card slots 11 and 12 is suitable for mounting the card 2 when the user intends to mount the card 2 on the portable terminal device 1. Do.
[0026]
Next, the operation of the mobile terminal device 1 configured as described above will be described.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the signal processing circuit 17.
If a user operation for inputting information is started by the input device 15, the signal processing circuit 17 executes the processing shown in FIG.
[0027]
In step ST1, the signal processing circuit 17 inputs information specified by the user. At this time, the user who intends to install the card 2 specifies card information regarding the card 2 to be installed. As card information, information used to determine the type of the card 2 is used. For example, an identification number indicating the type of the card 2 or the model number or product name of the card 2 can be used as the card information. The card information designated by the user may be input in an interactive format that is generally performed in a personal computer or the like.
[0028]
In step ST2, the signal processing circuit 17 confirms whether or not the information input in step ST1 is card information. If information other than card information is input in step ST1, the signal processing circuit 17 proceeds to step ST3 and executes processing according to the input information. If the card information is input in step ST1, the signal processing circuit 17 proceeds from step ST2 to step ST4.
[0029]
In step ST4, the signal processing circuit 17 determines the type of the card 2 that the user intends to attach based on the card information. In step ST <b> 5, the signal processing circuit 17 refers to the matching information stored in the storage device 16 and determines which of the card slots 11 and 12 is suitable for mounting the determined type of card. In step ST6, the signal processing circuit 17 instructs the control circuit 14 to display a guidance screen for notifying the user of the determination result in step ST5.
[0030]
When receiving the above instruction from the signal processing circuit 17, the control circuit 14 controls the display device 13 so as to display a guidance screen according to the instruction.
[0031]
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an example of the appearance of the portable terminal device 1 and the display of the guidance screen. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the same part as FIG.
The guidance screen displayed on the display device 13 in FIG. 3 is a case where it is determined that the card slot 11 is suitable for mounting the card 2. That is, by pointing the card slot 11 directly with an arrow, the user is prompted to insert the card 2 into the card slot 11.
[0032]
FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing another example of the guidance screen. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the same part as FIG.
The guidance screen displayed on the display device 13 in FIG. 4 is a case where it is determined that the card slot 11 is suitable for mounting the card 2 as in FIG. However, the guidance screen in FIG. 4 includes an image representing the appearance of the mobile terminal device 1, and the position of the card slot 11 in this image is indicated by an arrow.
[0033]
As described above, according to the type of the card 2 to be installed by the user, the user is notified which of the card slots 11 and 12 is suitable for installing the card 2. Which of the card slots 11 and 12 is suitable for mounting the card 2 is determined based on the matching information stored in the storage device 16. This matching information is determined as follows.
[0034]
That is, for a card having a wireless communication function (hereinafter referred to as a wireless card), it is investigated whether the antenna characteristic provided in the wireless card is best when it is inserted into any of the card slots 11 and 12; The card slot with the best antenna characteristics is described as appropriate in the matching information. If wireless cards have different types of optimal card slots because of different communication systems to be used, they are classified as different types, and appropriate card slots are described in the matching information. Regarding cards other than wireless cards, there are a plurality of types such as memory cards and camera cards. These may be determined as types other than “wireless cards”. In the conformance information, a card slot different from a card slot suitable for a wireless card is described as being suitable for a type of card other than “wireless card”.
[0035]
Thus, according to the mobile terminal device of the first embodiment, when a user tries to attach a wireless card, the wireless card is attached to a card slot with the best antenna characteristics provided in the wireless card. A prompting guidance screen is displayed. When the user installs the wireless card according to the guidance screen, the wireless card is inserted into a card slot with the best antenna characteristics. As a result, higher-quality wireless communication can be realized using the wireless card.
[0036]
Further, according to the mobile terminal device of the first embodiment, when a card other than the wireless card is mounted before the wireless card, the card slot is different from that suitable for mounting the wireless card. A guidance screen prompting the user to insert the card is displayed. When a user installs a card according to this guidance screen, a card slot suitable for installing a wireless card can be left empty. As a result, when the user next tries to install the wireless card, a guidance screen that prompts the user to install the wireless card in the empty card slot is displayed.
[0037]
When the user is trying to install a wireless card, if another card is already installed in the card slot suitable for installing the wireless card, the card already installed and the wireless card If a guidance screen that prompts replacement is displayed, it is easy for an inexperienced user to understand.
[0038]
(Second Embodiment)
FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the mobile terminal device 3 according to the second embodiment.
The portable terminal device 3 is of a folding type, and an opened state is shown in FIG. 5A, and a closed state (folded state) is shown in FIG. 5B.
[0039]
The mobile terminal device 3 has two housings 31 and 32. The casings 31 and 32 are each provided with two card slots 33, 34, 35, and 36 in total, that is, a total of four card slots 33, 34, 35, and 36. These card slots 33, 34, 35, and 36 are general-purpose cards conforming to a card standard such as a compact flash type II. The card slots 33, 34, 35, and 36 may all conform to the same card standard, or may conform to different card standards.
[0040]
Cards 4, 5, 6, and 7 can be inserted into the card slots 33, 34, 35, and 36, respectively, as shown in FIG. And when a part of the cards 4, 5, 6, and 7 installed in the card slots 33, 34, 35, and 36 protrudes outside the housings 31 and 32 as shown in FIG. The positions of the card slots 33, 34, 35, and 36 are determined so that the protruding portions do not face each other in both the state and the closed state. That is, the relative positions of the card slots 33 and 34 and the card slots 35 and 36 change between an open state and a closed state. The positions of the card slots 33, 34, 35, and 36 are determined so as to satisfy.
[0041]
Now, when a wireless card is attached to a terminal, it is general that a part of the wireless card protrudes outside the casing of the terminal. An antenna is disposed in a portion protruding outside the housing. As a result, the antenna exists outside the housing, and the interference of the antenna radiation by the housing is suppressed.
[0042]
Therefore, when the cards 4, 5, 6, and 7 are wireless cards, a part of the cards 4, 5, 6, and 7 protrudes from the casings 31 and 32 as shown in FIG. At this time, since the positions of the card slots 33, 34, 35, and 36 are determined as described above, the protruding portions of the cards 4, 5, 6, and 7 are in both the opened state and the closed state. They do not face each other.
[0043]
If the cards 4, 5, 6, and 7 are wireless cards, the antenna is disposed on the protruding portion as described above. If they face each other, the antenna performance may be significantly degraded due to interference. There is. However, in the portable terminal device 3, since the protruding portions of the cards 4, 5, 6, and 7 do not face each other as described above, interference between antennas can be suppressed. As a result, even when a plurality of wireless cards are loaded at the same time, it is possible to realize higher-quality wireless communication using these wireless cards.
[0044]
(Third embodiment)
FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the mobile terminal device 8 according to the third embodiment. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to FIG. 1 and an identical part, and the detailed description is abbreviate | omitted.
The mobile terminal device 8 includes card slots 11 and 12, a display device 13, a control circuit 14, an input device 15, a storage device 16, and a signal processing circuit 81.
[0045]
The signal processing circuit 81 has the same communication system used for wireless communication when the wireless cards 9 and 10 corresponding to the same communication system are connected to the card slots 11 and 12, respectively. It has a function of selecting one communication form with the best communication quality from a plurality of communication forms having different combinations.
[0046]
Next, the operation of the mobile terminal device 8 configured as described above will be described.
Wireless devices compatible with a plurality of communication systems have already been put into practical use. For example, in the United States, wireless devices corresponding to three of an 800 MHz band analog mobile phone system, an 800 MHz band digital mobile phone system, and a 1800 MHz band digital mobile phone system have been put into practical use. In Japan as well, wireless devices that support two frequencies, the 800 MHz band and the 1500 MHz band, have been put into practical use. In addition to this, in wireless LANs, wireless devices compatible with 2.4 GHz band systems and 5 GHz band systems have been put into practical use. Furthermore, technological development relating to wireless devices compatible with a plurality of completely different types of communication systems such as mobile telephone systems and wireless LAN systems has been advanced. For example, wireless devices compatible with PHS and wireless LAN have been put into practical use. This type of radio can be realized by a technology called software radio, for example.
[0047]
As wireless devices that support a plurality of communication systems become common, wireless cards that support a plurality of communication systems become mainstream. In such an environment, as in the case illustrated here, a situation may occur in which the two wireless cards 9 and 10 attached to the mobile terminal device 8 both correspond to the same communication system. In the following, a case where the wireless card 9 corresponds to a PDC (Personal Digital Cellular) system and a wireless LAN system and the wireless card 10 corresponds to a PHS system and a wireless LAN system is taken as an example.
[0048]
In such a situation, there may be a case where a plurality of communication modes may be used in which the communication systems used for the wireless communication are the same and the combinations of the operating states of the wireless cards 9 and 10 are different. For example, when only PDC communication or PHS communication is performed, only communication mode A1 as shown in FIG. 7 and communication mode B1 as shown in FIG. 8 can be taken. However, when only LAN communication is performed, two communication forms C1 and C2 as shown in FIG. 9 are possible. When PDC communication and LAN communication are performed, two communication forms D1 and D2 as shown in FIG. 10 can be taken. When PHS communication and LAN communication are performed, two communication forms E1 and E2 as shown in FIG. 11 can be taken. 7 to 11 show the operation states of the wireless cards 9 and 10 in each communication mode. For example, in the communication form A1 shown in FIG. 7, the wireless card 9 performs communication using the PDC system, but does not perform communication using the wireless LAN system, and the wireless card 10 uses the PHS system and the wireless LAN system. This indicates that the communication mode is such that none of the communication using the communication is performed.
[0049]
The communication form C1 and communication form C2, the communication form D1 and communication form D2, the communication form E1 and the communication form E2 are the same in the communication system to be used, but the position of the wireless cards 9 and 10 is different, or the frequency to be used. The amount of interference between the antennas arranged in the two wireless cards 9 and 10 varies depending on the transmission / reception timing difference. As a result, the antenna characteristics change between the two communication modes, and communication quality may differ.
[0050]
The signal processing circuit 81 sequentially sets each of the communication modes C1, C2, D1, D2, E1, and E2, and measures the communication quality in each communication mode. As the value representing the communication quality, for example, a reception field strength value output from a reception field strength detection circuit generally provided in the wireless cards 9 and 10 can be used.
[0051]
The signal processing circuit 81 compares the communication qualities of the two communication modes that use the same communication system for wireless communication, and selects the communication mode that provides the best communication quality. That is, the communication mode C1 or C2 having the better communication quality is selected as the communication mode when only LAN communication is performed. Of the communication modes D1 and D2, the one with the better communication quality is selected as the communication mode when PDC communication and LAN communication are performed. Of the communication forms E1 and E2, the one having the better communication quality is selected as the communication form when performing PHS communication and LAN communication. The signal processing circuit 81 stores the selection result in the storage device 16 as a table as shown in FIG. 12, for example. In the example of FIG. 12, the communication mode C1 is selected when only LAN communication is performed, the communication mode D1 is selected when PDC communication and LAN communication are performed, and the communication mode E2 is selected when PHS communication and LAN communication are performed. Results are shown.
[0052]
When a communication system to be used by the user is designated by an operation on the input device 15, the signal processing circuit 81 determines a communication form using the communication system with reference to the above table stored in the storage device 16. To do. Specifically, when the above table is in the state shown in FIG. 12, if the user specifies to perform PDC communication and LAN communication, the signal processing circuit 81 is set to the communication state D1. The wireless cards 9 and 10 are controlled.
[0053]
As described above, according to the mobile terminal device 8 of the third embodiment, it is possible to adopt a plurality of communication forms in which the communication system used for the wireless communication is the same and the combinations of the operating states of the wireless cards 9 and 10 are different. In some cases, the communication quality in each of these communication modes is measured, and the communication mode with the best communication quality is selected. Therefore, when the communication in the communication system that the user desires to use can be realized in a plurality of different communication forms, the communication form that provides the best communication quality by using the selected communication form is used. Communication can be performed.
[0054]
Each embodiment of the present invention can be variously modified as follows.
In the first embodiment, in the state where the card 2 is temporarily mounted in either of the card slots 11 and 12, the card information stored in the temporarily mounted card 2 is read to input the card information. Also good. In this way, it is possible to save the user from manipulating the input device 15 in order to specify card information, and to improve user convenience.
[0055]
In the first embodiment, a card to be mounted is photographed using a camera provided on the mobile terminal device 1 or a camera mounted on a card mounted on the mobile terminal device 1, and the signal processing circuit 17 captures the card. It is also possible to determine the type of card by image recognition. In this way, it is possible to save the user from manipulating the input device 15 in order to specify card information, and to improve user convenience.
[0056]
Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as it is, and can be embodied by modifying the constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. In addition, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of components disclosed in the embodiment. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment. Furthermore, constituent elements over different embodiments may be appropriately combined.
[0057]
【The invention's effect】
Deterioration of communication characteristics of the wireless communication card installed in the card slot is prevented, and wireless communication using the wireless communication card can be performed with high quality.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a mobile terminal device 1 according to a first embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a signal processing circuit 17 in FIG.
3 is a perspective view showing an example of the appearance of the mobile terminal device 1 in FIG. 1 and the display of a guidance screen. FIG.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing another example of a guidance screen.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of a mobile terminal device 3 according to a second embodiment.
FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a mobile terminal device 8 according to a third embodiment.
FIG. 7 is a view showing a combination of operation states of a wireless card in a communication mode in which only PDC communication is performed.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a combination of operation states of a wireless card in a communication mode that performs only PHS communication.
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a combination of operation states of a wireless card in a communication mode in which only LAN communication is performed.
FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a combination of operation states of a wireless card in a communication mode for performing PDC communication and LAN communication.
FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a combination of operation states of a wireless card in a communication mode in which PHS communication and LAN communication are performed.
FIG. 12 is a table showing a communication form selection result.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 3, 8 ... Portable terminal device, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7 ... Card, 9, 10 ... Wireless card, 9 ... Wireless card, 9, 10 ... Wireless card, 11, 12, 33, 34, 35 , 36 ... card slot, 13 ... display device, 14 ... control circuit, 15 ... input device, 16 ... storage device, 17, 81 ... signal processing circuit, 31, 32 ... casing.

Claims (5)

A plurality of card slots in which a plurality of types of cards including a wireless communication card can be mounted;
Determining means for determining the type of card to be mounted;
And means for displaying information indicating one card slot suitable as a mounting destination of the mounting target card when the mounting target card is the wireless communication card based on a determination result of the determination unit. The portable terminal device characterized by this. An input means for inputting information designated by the user;
2. The portable terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit is replaced with a unit that determines the type of the mounting target card before mounting based on information input by the input unit. The determination unit is replaced with a unit that detects identification information stored in the mounting target card in a state where the mounting target card is temporarily mounted in any one of the plurality of card slots. Item 2. The mobile terminal device according to Item 1. A housing having first and second partial housing portions and a hinge that foldably connects the first and second partial housing portions;
A wireless communication card provided on each of the first and second partial housing parts and having an antenna, with at least a part of the antenna projecting from the first and second partial housing parts, and The first and second cards that can be mounted so that the protruding portion of the wireless communication card mounted on the card does not face each other in either the opened state or the folded state of the first and second partial housing units. A portable terminal device comprising a slot. A plurality of card slots each capable of mounting a first wireless communication card operable corresponding to one communication system or a second wireless communication card operable corresponding to a plurality of communication systems;
Means for measuring communication quality in a plurality of communication modes in which the communication systems used for the wireless communication are the same and the combinations of operation states of the wireless communication cards respectively mounted in a plurality of card slots are different;
And a means for selecting one communication mode having the best communication quality from the plurality of communication modes.

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