JP2006060700A - Portable terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress power consumption of a power source part mounted on a portable terminal due to a non-contact IC card function part built in a terminal. <P>SOLUTION: The portable terminal 10 is provided with a short range radio communication means 31 which performs short range radio communication with a reader/writer 4 connected to a predetermined system and makes the system side recognizes the short range radio communication, wherein the portable terminal 10 is provided with a first communication means 28 for performing radio communication with external equipment and a power generation means 35 for receiving radio waves from the first communication means 28 and generating a power source to be supplied to the short range radio communication means 31. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone terminal, and more particularly to a mobile terminal with a built-in or attached short-range wireless communication function called a non-contact type IC card.

  In recent years, the use of non-contact type IC cards is rapidly spreading as transportation tickets, membership cards, employee cards, cards for payment methods at stores, and the like. The non-contact type IC card performs authentication processing by performing wireless communication with a nearby reader / writer, and thus can be used while being put in a wallet or the like, and is more convenient than a magnetic card or the like.

  Non-contact type IC cards are roughly classified into two types: no battery (passive type) and with battery (active type). Among them, the non-contact type IC card without a battery is most widely used at present. The concept of power generation of a non-contact type IC card by the electromagnetic induction method is shown in FIG. The non-contact type IC card 1 includes a coil-shaped antenna 2. When a current flows through the antenna coil 5 of the reader / writer 4, an electromagnetic wave 6 is radiated into the air. When the radiated electromagnetic wave 6 is induced in the antenna 2 of the non-contact type IC card 1, power due to the induced magnetic flux is induced in the antenna 2. The non-contact type IC card 1 enters the communicable region where the induced magnetic flux radiated from the antenna 5 of the reader / writer 4 can be caught, whereby the IC chip 3 connected to the antenna 2 is activated by the induced power, and the reader / writer 4 / You can communicate with the writer.

  As described above, when a non-contact type IC card receives an electromagnetic wave from a reader / writer, power is generated by the antenna, and an external power source such as a battery is not required to perform signal processing and communication using this power.

  On the other hand, such a non-contact type IC card (or a circuit component having the same function as the IC card) is built in a portable electronic device such as a mobile phone terminal, and these devices are used in the same manner. Proposals have been made to enable authentication and settlement. When it is configured to incorporate an IC card in a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone terminal, a case where a functional unit as an IC card is incorporated in a state where it cannot be taken out from the mobile terminal, and a card slot prepared in the mobile terminal, Although it is assumed that an IC card is mounted, it can be used in any case in a state where it is attached to a portable terminal. When the IC card function unit is incorporated into the mobile terminal, the IC card function unit is not necessarily in the shape of a card. However, in the following description, the IC card function unit is particularly described when referred to as an IC card. Unless otherwise specified, it includes a portion having an IC card function.

  When wireless communication is performed with a reader / writer in proximity using an IC card function unit incorporated in a portable terminal, the identification number data assigned to the IC card is transferred to the reader / writer side. The authentication process can be performed on the system side where the reader / writer is installed.

  If such a non-contact type IC card is a type that does not require an external power source as described above, it operates with electric power obtained by receiving radio waves transmitted from the reader / writer side. On the other hand, in the case of the IC card function unit built in the mobile phone terminal, since the power source unit such as a secondary battery is built in the terminal, the power supplied to the IC card function unit from the power source unit Thus, it is possible to perform processing such as improving the reception sensitivity. In addition, since the IC card function unit may be operated even when the IC card function unit is not communicating with the reader / writer, the cell phone battery is generally used as a power source for the IC card function unit. There are many things.

Here, Patent Document 1 discloses a technology that can charge a battery mounted on a tag by radio waves transmitted from another reader / writer or tag.
JP-A-8-138018

  By the way, since the IC card function unit does not know when to communicate with the reader / writer, it is necessary to stand by so that communication can be performed at any time. Here, if the IC card function unit built in the mobile phone terminal is always operated by the power supply from the power supply unit in the terminal, the IC card function unit will always consume power, and the mobile phone terminal This hinders the reduction in power consumption of the battery and shortens the battery duration. In addition, the battery described in Patent Document 1 can be charged with a radio wave from a tag or reader / writer other than its own device, but if there is no such tag, reader / writer near its own device, it should be charged. I can't.

  In the above description, the case where the IC card function is incorporated in the mobile phone terminal has been described. However, the case where the IC card function is incorporated in a portable terminal such as a data terminal such as a PDA (Personal Digital Assistance) is also described. Have a similar problem.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a point, and an object of the present invention is to suppress power consumption by a non-contact IC card function unit built in a terminal of a power supply unit mounted on a portable terminal.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the present invention provides a short-range wireless communication means for performing short-range wireless communication with a reader / writer connected to a predetermined system and causing the system to recognize the short-range wireless communication means. In the mobile terminal provided, a first communication unit that performs wireless communication with an external device, and a power generation unit that receives a radio wave from the first communication unit and generates power to be supplied to the short-range wireless communication unit. It is set as the structure provided.

  With this configuration, the power generation unit receives the wireless signal transmitted by the first communication unit, and can be used as a power source for the short-range wireless communication unit that does not have a power source.

  In the above-described invention, a power supply unit that supplies power to the first communication unit or the short-range wireless communication unit, and a power supply unit when a wireless signal is transmitted from the first communication unit to the short-range wireless communication unit The power supply to the short-range wireless communication means is stopped.

  In this way, when the power supply from the power supply unit to the short-range wireless communication unit is stopped when the wireless signal is transmitted from the first communication unit to the short-range wireless communication unit, the power consumption of the power supply unit Can be reduced.

  In the above-described invention, a power supply unit that supplies power to the first communication unit, a monitoring unit that monitors a voltage value of power generated by the power generation unit, a monitoring result of the monitoring unit, and the short-range wireless communication And control means for determining whether or not to supply power from the power supply unit to the short-range wireless communication means based on the result of comparing the operating voltages of the means.

  In this way, based on the result of comparing the monitoring result of the voltage value of the monitoring means and the operating voltage of the short-range wireless communication means, it is determined whether or not power is supplied from the power supply unit to the short-range wireless communication means. In this case, the power supply of the power supply unit can be used only when the power supply is insufficient.

  According to the present invention, the power generation means for receiving the radio signal transmitted by the first communication means such as the mobile phone system and generating the power is provided, so that the transmission power of the first communication means is used. Thus, there is an effect that it can be used as a power source for short-distance wireless communication means having no power source called a non-contact IC card.

  In addition, when a wireless signal is transmitted from the first communication means to the short-range wireless communication means, when power supply from the power supply section to the short-range wireless communication means is stopped, power consumption of the power supply section is reduced. There is an effect that can be done.

  Further, based on the result of comparing the voltage value monitoring result by the monitoring means and the operating voltage of the short-range wireless communication means, it is determined whether or not power is supplied from the power supply unit to the short-range wireless communication means. In this case, the power source of the power source unit can be used only when the power source is insufficient. Therefore, there is an effect that the power consumption of the power supply unit can be reduced.

Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
In this example, the present invention is applied to a mobile phone terminal having a built-in IC card function for wireless communication without contact.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the mobile phone terminal of this example. First, a description will be given of a transmission configuration as a mobile phone terminal. Data that is supplied to the microphone 11 is supplied to the voice input unit 12 to be a digital signal, and is supplied to the digital signal processing unit 13 to be a packet for transmission. Processing is performed, and the obtained transmission packet is supplied to an RF (high frequency) input / output unit 14, modulated for transmission, converted to a predetermined transmission frequency, and wirelessly transmitted from the connected antenna 15.

  As a reception configuration as a radiotelephone terminal, a signal in a predetermined frequency band received by the antenna 15 is subjected to reception processing by an RF (high frequency) input / output unit 14 and subjected to demodulation processing for reception to obtain a reception packet. The obtained received packet is supplied to the digital signal processing unit 13 to extract each data in the packet such as an audio signal. The extracted audio signal is supplied to the audio output unit 16, performs output processing such as analog conversion and amplification, and is output from the connected speaker 17.

  These transmission and reception processes are configured to be executed based on the control of the control unit 21 as control means for controlling the telephone function of the wireless telephone terminal. When the operation unit 24 composed of various operation means such as operation keys arranged in the wireless telephone terminal is operated, a command based on the operation is supplied to the control unit 21 and the control unit 21 is instructed. To control.

  In addition, the wireless telephone terminal of this example is provided with a display unit 22 as a display unit for displaying information such as a telephone number, a mail text, a web screen, a communication status, and the display unit is smaller than the display unit 22. In some cases, the sub display unit 23 may be provided. The display on the display unit 22 and the sub display unit 23 is executed under the control of the control unit 21. Further, data transfer with the outside via the external interface unit 25 provided in the mobile phone terminal is also executed under the control of the control unit 21.

  The power source for operating each unit of the wireless telephone terminal of this example is configured to be supplied from the power source unit 26. The power supply unit 26 includes, for example, a secondary battery such as a lithium ion battery, and a transformer unit that transforms the output of the secondary battery. Regarding the supply of power from the power supply unit 26, there are a part where power is always supplied regardless of the operation mode of the terminal like the control unit 21 and a part where power is supplied depending on the operation mode of the terminal.

  The cellular phone terminal of this example incorporates an IC card function unit 31 that is a short-range wireless communication means. The IC card function unit 31 has a built-in memory, and a code for identifying and authenticating the user, a charged amount, data registered as a boarding ticket and various tickets, and the like are stored in the memory. An IC card RF signal antenna 32 is connected to the IC card function unit 31, and the IC card RF signal antenna 32 receives radio waves transmitted at a predetermined frequency from an external reader / writer. When it is determined that the reader / writer is in proximity, bidirectional wireless communication is performed with the reader / writer. Wireless communication between the IC card RF signal antenna 32 and the reader / writer is wireless communication between very close distances such as a distance of about several centimeters. As a frequency wirelessly transmitted between the IC card RF signal antenna 32 and the reader / writer, for example, a 13 MHz band is used.

  When communication is performed between the IC card function unit 31 and the reader / writer, for example, data such as an identification code stored in the IC card function unit 31, an amount, and registered conditions are stored on the reader / writer side. To the reader / writer for recognition. Further, if necessary, the data to be written in the memory from the reader / writer side is sent to the IC card function unit 31, and the data stored in the IC card function unit 31 is updated.

  When the IC card function unit 31 performs wireless communication with the reader / writer and performs processing such as authentication, the basic authentication processing is completed within the IC card function unit 31. The control unit 21 may share and execute some functions.

  The operation of the IC card function unit 31 is operated by any one of the power supplied from the power supply unit 26 in the terminal in addition to the radio wave received by the IC card RF signal antenna 32. Further, the mobile phone RF signal antenna 33 is provided so that power can be generated by receiving radio waves of the mobile phone system output from the antenna 15 of the mobile phone. In this case, in this example, the power supply is switched by the power supply switch 34 as shown in FIG. The power supply switch 34 is controlled to open and close by generating electric power in the IC card function unit 31 when receiving radio waves from the antenna 32 for IC card RF signal or the antenna 33 for mobile phone RF signal. The power supply from is stopped.

  Next, the IC card function unit 31 and its peripheral configuration will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 2, the configuration relating to the power supply to the IC card function unit 31 and its control is mainly shown.

  The IC card function unit 31 includes a power generation circuit 35 that functions as power generation means, and an internal circuit 36 that performs various signal processing, control, and the like. The power generation circuit 35 is connected to the antenna 32 for IC card RF signal and the antenna 33 for mobile phone RF signal. When the radio wave radiated from the antenna 5 of the reader / writer 4 is received by the antenna 32, the power generation circuit 35 is charged. When the unit 35a is charged and the antenna 33 receives radio waves from the mobile phone terminal 10, that is, the mobile phone system 28 of the own device, the charging unit 35b is charged. Since the mobile phone terminal itself performs wireless communication in the several hundred MHz to several GHz band, the power of the power supply unit 26 in the mobile phone terminal is supplied by supplying power to the IC card function unit 31 using this transmission power. Consumption can be suppressed.

  The mobile phone system 28 refers to a device configuration related to a function that enables wireless communication with an external base station in a mobile phone terminal, and includes a power supply unit 26, a control unit 21, a digital signal processing unit 13, and an RF input / output unit. 14 (see FIG. 1) and the like, but in a broad sense, it indicates the entire configuration excluding the IC card function unit 31 in the mobile phone terminal.

  The internal circuit 36 is connected to the antenna 32 and executes a transmission process and a reception process as short-range wireless communication, and a control unit 36b that controls short-range wireless communication in the communication unit 36a, A voltage monitoring unit 36c that monitors the voltage value of the power generated by the power generation circuit 35 and sends the information to the control unit 36b is provided.

  The control unit 36b has a built-in memory for storing authentication data and the like. The control unit 36b is connected to the control unit 21 that controls the mobile phone system 28 on the mobile phone terminal side through the bus line 41 so that data can be transferred, and is controlled (command) from the control unit 21 on the mobile phone terminal side. Based on the above, the control unit 36b controls the short-range wireless communication in the IC card function unit 31. However, the bus line 41 is not shown in the figure, but is selectively used by switching via a bus line connected to other circuits in the mobile phone terminal and the bus line changeover switch. is there.

  The power supply from the power supply unit 26 to the IC card function unit 31 is supplied via the power supply switch 34 described above, and the control unit 21 controls the wireless communication status and power of the IC card function unit 31. On / off of the power supply switch is determined and controlled from information such as the remaining capacity of the charging unit in the generation circuit 35.

  In this example, the IC card RF signal antenna 32 and the mobile phone RF signal antenna 33 are provided. However, these antennas may be shared by one antenna.

  Next, the flowchart of FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of power supply processing to the IC card function unit using the transmission power of the mobile phone in the configuration shown in FIG. In the following, referring to FIG. 3, in the initial state of this example, the power supply switch 34 is on (step S1), and power is supplied from the power supply unit 26 of the mobile phone system 28 to the IC card function unit 31. The In this state, the control unit 21 determines whether the mobile phone system 28 has started wireless communication (step S2). When the mobile phone terminal 10 has not started the wireless communication, the process proceeds to step S1, the power supply switch 34 is kept on, and the power supply from the power supply unit 26 is continued.

  Note that the wireless communication performed by the mobile phone terminal 10 via the antenna 15 may have a plurality of forms such as a call, web screen browsing, and content download. However, for example, a state in which wireless communication is being performed like a call is constant. Those that can be expected to continue for a long time are desirable.

  On the other hand, when the mobile communication system 28 starts communication, the control unit 21 turns off the power supply switch 34 (step S3), and stops the power supply from the power supply unit 26 to the IC card function unit 31. In this state, the control unit 21 determines whether or not the wireless communication of the mobile phone system 28 is finished (step S4). If the wireless communication has not ended, the process proceeds to step S3, where the power supply switch 34 is kept off and power generation using the transmission power of the mobile phone is continued. When the wireless communication is completed, the process proceeds to step S2 where the power supply switch 34 is switched on and switched to power supply from the power supply unit 26.

  According to the configuration described above, when it is necessary to operate the IC card function unit 31 when the IC card function unit 31 and the reader / writer 4 are not performing wireless communication, the RF signal of the mobile phone terminal 10 is received and Since the transmission power is used for the power source of the IC card function unit 31, the IC is powered by the power from the external RF signal including the RF signal from the reader / writer 4 as well as the RF signal of the mobile phone terminal 10 itself. When the card function unit 31 can be powered, the power supply from the power supply unit 26 to the IC card function unit 31 can be stopped. Therefore, the power consumption of the power supply unit 26 can be reduced.

  Next, the flowchart of FIG. 4 shows an example of power supply processing to the IC card function unit when the voltage value of the power generated by the power generation circuit 35 is monitored in the configuration shown in FIG. It is a figure. In the following, referring to FIG. 4, in the initial state of this example, the power supply switch 34 is in the off state (step S1), and the power supply from the power supply unit 26 of the mobile phone system 28 to the IC card function unit 31 is as follows. It has stopped. Usually, when the IC card function unit 31 and the reader / writer 4 are sufficiently close to perform wireless communication, or when generating power using the transmission power of the mobile phone, sufficient power is secured in the power generation circuit 35. be able to.

  The voltage monitoring unit 36c provided in the IC card function unit 31 functions as a monitoring unit, and constantly monitors the voltage value of the power accumulated in the charging units 35a and 35b of the power generation circuit 35 and transmits the information to the control unit 36b. To do. The control unit 36b transmits the information to the control unit 21 on the mobile communication system 28 side via the bus line 41, and the control unit 21 switches the power supply switch 34 based on this information.

  In the state where the power supply switch 34 is off, the control unit 21 determines whether or not the voltage value of the power generation circuit 35 is equal to or lower than the operating voltage of the IC card function unit 31 (step S12). When the voltage value is not less than or equal to the operating voltage of the IC card function unit 31, the process proceeds to step S11, the power supply switch 34 is kept off, and the power generated by the power generation circuit 35 is used as a power source.

  On the other hand, when the voltage value is equal to or lower than the operating voltage of the IC card function unit 31, the control unit 21 switches the power supply switch 34 to the ON state (step S13), and supplies power from the power supply unit 26 to the IC card function unit 31. To do. In such a case, for example, the charging unit 35a or 35b of the power generation circuit 35 performs charging using an RF signal from the reader / writer 4 or the mobile phone system 28, but the IC card function unit 31 and the reader / writer When wireless communication with the writer 4 or the mobile phone communication system 28 ends, when a certain time or more elapses, the power accumulated in the charging units 35a and 35b is discharged, and the voltage value becomes lower than the operating voltage. Conceivable.

  In this state, the control unit 21 determines whether the power supply voltage supplied from the power generation circuit 35 is equal to or higher than the operating voltage of the IC card function unit 31 (step S14). If it is not equal to or higher than the operating voltage of the IC card function unit 31, the process proceeds to step S13, and the power supply switch 34 is kept on. As such a case, the IC card function unit 31 and the reader / writer 4 may be distant from each other, or the mobile phone terminal 10 may not make a call and the mobile phone RF signal antenna 33 may not receive an RF signal. .

  On the other hand, when the voltage value detected by the voltage monitoring unit 36 c is equal to or higher than the operating voltage of the IC card function unit 31, the control unit 21 switches the power supply switch 34 to the OFF state, and the power supply unit 26 switches to the IC card function unit 31. Stop power supply to. For example, a situation in which the IC card function unit 31 and the reader / writer 4 or the mobile phone system 28 perform wireless communication and can use the transmission power can be considered.

  According to the above-described configuration, the charging units 35a and 35b are charged using, for example, an RF signal from the reader / writer 4 or an RF signal transmitted from the mobile communication terminal 10 itself, and the voltage monitoring unit 36c is provided. The voltage value supplied from the power generation circuit 35 of the IC card function unit 31 is monitored, and the power supply from the power supply unit 26 to the IC card function unit 31 is controlled according to the remaining capacity of the charging units 35a and 35b. is there. Therefore, the power source of the power source unit 26 can be used only when necessary, and power consumption can be reduced.

  For example, after charging the charging units 35a and 35b by wireless communication with the reader / writer 4 or the portable communication system 28, the IC card function unit 31 operates from the charging units 35a and 35b even when the wireless communication is terminated. If a sufficient voltage is obtained, it is not necessary to supply power from the power supply unit 26, and power consumption can be suppressed.

  For example, although wireless communication was performed with the reader / writer 4, for example, the RF signal for the IC card with sufficient strength could not be obtained due to being away from a specified distance, and the operating voltage was reached by the voltage monitoring unit 36c. If it is determined that the power is not present, the power supply switch 34 is switched to supply power from the power supply unit 26 of the mobile phone system 28 to the IC card function unit 31, thereby backing up the power generated from the RF signal for the IC card. Thus, the IC card function unit 31 can be operated.

  In the above-described embodiment, an example is described in which the IC card function is incorporated in the mobile phone terminal. However, the same processing can be applied when the IC card function is incorporated in various other portable terminal devices. Is possible. The IC card function built into the terminal is prepared in the terminal in addition to the case where a circuit block for realizing the same function as the IC card is built in the terminal (in the case of the above-described embodiment). As a configuration in which an IC card is mounted in a card slot or the like, a position where the mounted IC card can communicate may be displayed.

  In addition, the antenna 33 of the mobile phone terminal 10 is configured to receive the radio wave of the mobile phone system output from the antenna 15 of its own device and generate power. However, the antenna 33 also receives radio waves from other devices. It is good also as a structure which can receive and produce | generate electric power.

It is a figure which shows the structural example of the mobile telephone terminal by one embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the principal part of one embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the example of a power supply process using the transmission power of the mobile telephone by one embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the example of an electric power supply process based on the voltage monitoring by one embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the concept of the electric power generation of a non-contact IC card.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 13 ... Digital signal processing part, 14 ... RF input / output part, 15 ... Antenna, 21 ... Control part, 26 ... Power supply part, 28 ... Cell-phone system, 31 ... IC card function part, 32 ... Antenna (for IC card RF signal) , 33 ... Antenna (for mobile phone RF signal), 34 ... Power supply switch, 35 ... Power generation circuit, 35a and 35b ... Charging unit, 36 ... Internal circuit, 36a ... Communication unit, 36b ... Control unit, 36c ... Voltage Monitoring unit, 41 ... bus line

Claims (3)

In a portable terminal provided with short-range wireless communication means for performing short-range wireless communication with a reader / writer connected to a predetermined system and causing the system side to recognize it,
A first communication means for performing wireless communication with an external device;
A portable terminal comprising: a power generation unit configured to receive a radio wave from the first communication unit and generate a power to be supplied to the short-range wireless communication unit. A power supply for supplying power to the first communication means or the short-range wireless communication means;
The power supply from the power supply unit to the short-range wireless communication unit is stopped when a wireless signal is transmitted from the first communication unit to the short-range wireless communication unit. Mobile device. A power supply for supplying power to the first communication means;
Monitoring means for monitoring the voltage value of the power generated by the power generating means;
Control means for determining whether or not power is supplied from the power supply unit to the short-range wireless communication means based on a result of comparing the monitoring result of the monitoring means and the operating voltage of the short-range wireless communication means. The mobile terminal according to claim 1.

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