JP2007208601A - Mobile terminal and display method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mobile terminal enabling a user to browse needed information even while the battery of the mobile terminal runs down. <P>SOLUTION: When the mobile terminal judges that the battery of it runs down, the mobile terminal displays information required by the user on a display device capable of keeping the display while not being supplied with power, then cuts the power supply of a main body, thereby enabling the user to browse the information required by the user over a long time without charging the battery even after the battery of the device runs down. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a mobile terminal device and a display method, and more particularly to display of contents stored in a mobile terminal device such as a mobile phone, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), and a PHS (Personal Handyphone System).

  Conventionally, when a mobile phone is used, if the remaining battery power is low, for example, a warning sound indicating that the battery is almost exhausted is sounded for about 1 minute, and the power of the main body is notified after the user is informed of the battery being exhausted. Drop. After that, if the user connects an AC (Alternating Current) adapter or a commercially available battery-type charger for charging, or replaces it with a charged battery pack, the data stored in the mobile phone is saved. I can't see it.

In order to solve such a problem, in the technique of Patent Document 1, when the battery is exhausted, the function of the device is limited, and the built-in telephone directory is browsed using a small display unit with low power consumption. Yes.
Moreover, in the technique of Patent Document 2, when it is detected that the remaining battery level of the mobile phone is lower than a predetermined value, the information stored in the main storage unit is stored in another non-volatile storage unit, Even if the cellular phone is not turned on, it can be read by non-contact communication.

Furthermore, in the technique of Patent Document 3, an electronic paper capable of holding displayed information without being supplied with power is provided as an outer wall portion of the mobile communication terminal, and an image is displayed on the electronic paper. It is used as an exterior design.
JP 2004-128574 A JP 2005-217621 A JP-A-2005-210320

However, in the technique of Patent Document 1, when the battery is exhausted, it is assumed that the information in the built-in telephone directory is browsed using a small display unit with low power consumption while limiting power consumption by limiting functions. However, in order to do so, it is necessary to supply power to various other functions such as memory and CPU (Central Processing Unit) that accesses the memory. Have difficulty.
Moreover, even if browsing is realized, there is a problem that only browsing for a short time is possible temporarily.
Furthermore, since the information is displayed on a small display unit, there is a problem that only a limited amount of information is available and the information is difficult to see.

  Further, in the technique of Patent Document 2, it is assumed that the built-in information is read out by non-contact communication such as RFID (Radio Frequency Identification). However, an external device is required to read out the information. If the user does not always hold it, it cannot be viewed immediately, and the operation becomes complicated.

  Further, in the technique of Patent Document 3, an electronic paper capable of holding displayed information without displaying power is displayed as an outer wall portion of the mobile communication terminal, thereby displaying the mobile body. It is used only as an external design for communication terminals.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and uses a display device capable of maintaining display without power supply, before the remaining battery power of the apparatus becomes low and the battery runs out. By displaying the information necessary for the user on the display device, even if the battery of the apparatus has run out, there is no need to charge, no external apparatus is required, and the information necessary for the user can be immediately displayed for a long time. An object of the present invention is to provide a portable terminal device and a display method that can be browsed over a wide range.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention has the following configuration.
The portable terminal device includes a display unit having a display device capable of maintaining a display without power supply, a storage unit that stores useful information of a user, and a power control that controls power supply from a battery to each unit of the device. Means for determining that the remaining amount of the battery is lower than a predetermined value and outputting a battery remaining amount signal, and displaying the useful information of the user stored in the storage means Display control means for performing control to display in the display, wherein the display control means detects the low battery level signal and displays useful information stored in the storage means for the user. When the display of useful information of the user is completed, the power control unit stops power supply to each part of the apparatus.

Here, the useful information of the user is any one or any combination of telephone directory data, communication history, memo information, owner information and mail information, and the storage means is previously stored by the display information registration means. Can be registered.
Furthermore, layout information when displaying useful information of the user on the display means can be registered in the storage means in advance by the layout information registration means,
When the display control means displays useful information of the user, it displays on the display means based on the layout information.
In the layout information registration means, a predetermined area can be selected or an area desired by the user can be designated as an area for displaying the user's useful information.

  Further, in this portable terminal device, when the display control means detects the low battery level signal, useful information of the user is displayed on the display means, and then the power control means supplies power to each part of the device. Although the supply is stopped, even when the device is communicating with another communication device, the communication with the communication device is disconnected after the display is performed, and power is supplied to each part of the device To stop.

  In addition, a program for causing the computer to function as each unit of the mobile terminal device having the above-described configuration is created, or the program is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, and the program is executed by the computer. The above problem can also be solved by this.

The present invention has the following effects.
(1) Even when the battery is exhausted while away from home, it is possible to view the telephone number of a person who needs to be contacted on the display unit of the large screen of the mobile terminal device that has run out of battery. Therefore, even if the user does not memorize the contact information, it is possible to cope with another means such as a public telephone.

(2) Even when the battery runs out during a call, the communication history can be viewed on the display unit of the mobile terminal device that has run out of battery. Therefore, even if the user does not memorize the contact information, and even the first person or the person who is not registered in the phone book, the other party's telephone number can be viewed immediately, and it is easy by another means such as a public telephone. Can be supported.

(3) The emergency contact information can be viewed on the display unit of the mobile terminal device that has run out of battery even when the battery of the mobile terminal device has run out for a long time, such as while traveling abroad. Therefore, it is possible to give a sense of security to the user, and even when an urgent response is required, it is possible to contact by another means, which can bring great convenience to the user.

(4) Even when the user drops the portable terminal device and the portable terminal device runs out of battery, the owner information can be viewed on the display unit of the portable terminal device that runs out of battery. Therefore, since the contact person can know the contact information, it is very useful for the owner.

  For this reason, it is not necessary to carry around an AC adapter for charging or a charged battery pack, and it is not necessary to bother to purchase a commercially available battery-type charger.

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments according to a mobile terminal device of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
Hereinafter, as an example of the mobile terminal device, a mobile phone capable of performing operations such as a telephone and an e-mail will be described. In addition, this invention is not limited to embodiment at all, In the range which does not deviate from the summary, it can implement in various aspects.

FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram showing a configuration of a mobile terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
1, the mobile terminal device 100 includes a control unit 107, a storage unit 106, an operation unit 105, a first display unit 101, a second display unit 110, a display control unit 108, a communication unit 104, a battery 102, and a power control unit 109. The battery remaining amount determination unit 103 includes a configuration for executing an original function of the mobile terminal device 100 (not shown).

The control unit 107 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), and performs overall control of the mobile terminal device 100 by various determinations and calculations based on a control program and data stored in the storage unit 106.
The operation unit 105 includes a key, a button, a touch panel, or the like, and a user inputs an instruction for the mobile terminal device 100, or inputs character information, numerical information, or the like.

The first display unit 101 includes, for example, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), an organic EL (Electro Luminescent), and the like, and displays character information and numerical information input by the operation unit 105, intermediate / results / alarms of processing, and the like. To do.
The second display unit 110 is a known display device (for example, electronic paper) that can maintain display without power supply, and usually displays an image specified by the user and is used as an external design of the mobile terminal device 100. Is done. However, the present invention is not limited to the appearance design, and it may display a standby screen, calendar, clock information, and other information.

  The display control unit 108 is configured by a DSP (Digital Signal Processor) or the like, and normally performs image drawing processing and outputs the processed image to the first display unit 101. In addition, when the control unit 107 receives a signal indicating that the remaining battery level is low, the display control unit 108 is activated, and controls the second display unit 110 to display information specified in advance.

  As will be described in detail later, the information displayed on the second display unit 110 is specified in advance as to which information stored in the storage unit 106 is to be displayed, and is stored in the storage unit 106 as last display information. (Information registration part). The information amount of the last display information at this time is the maximum number of characters that can be displayed on the second display unit 110.

  In addition, a form for displaying the last display information is stored in advance in the storage unit 106 as layout information. The layout information may also be set in advance, or the user may designate a desired area ( Layout information registration unit). Here, the area is represented by a position and a width for displaying the last display information. Further, the arrangement position of information in this area may be fixed, or may be selected or designated by the user.

The communication unit 104 performs transmission / reception with another communication device based on a predetermined communication method. Through this communication, data communication such as voice telephone communication with a specific communication device, transmission / reception of mail, browsing of contents of an information providing site, downloading of contents, etc. can be performed.
Further, the communication unit 104 may exchange data between both devices by short-range wireless communication such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) or infrared (IrDA standard or IrSimple standard).

The battery 102 is a power source that supplies the mobile terminal device 100.
The power supply control unit 109 is configured by a DSP (Digital Signal Processor) or the like, and normally performs control to supply the power of the battery 102 to each unit of the mobile terminal device 100. When the remaining battery level of the battery 102 becomes a predetermined amount or less, it is confirmed that the designated information is displayed on the second display unit 110, and the power supply to each unit of the portable terminal device 100 is stopped. For example, even when the communication unit 104 is in operation, when the remaining battery level of the battery 102 becomes a predetermined amount or less, it is confirmed that the specified information is displayed on the second display unit 110, and the communication is disconnected. At the same time, power supply to each part of the mobile terminal device 100 is stopped.

The battery remaining capacity determination unit 103 first detects the voltage value and current value of the battery 102 and calculates the remaining capacity from the voltage value, current value, and electrical characteristics of the battery 102. Next, the predetermined amount is compared with the remaining capacity, and if the remaining capacity is less than the predetermined amount, a signal indicating that the remaining battery level is low is transmitted to the control unit 107. On the other hand, when the remaining capacity is larger than the predetermined amount, no signal is output.
Here, the predetermined amount is the minimum power required to display information designated to be displayed on the second display unit 110 when the remaining capacity of the battery 102 is low, and is set in advance. And stored in the storage unit 106.

The storage unit 106 includes a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a flash memory, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), and the like, and includes a control program, application program, character information, and numeric information for performing various controls. Store data such as.
The storage unit 106 stores a telephone directory, communication history (outgoing / incoming), memo information, owner information, outgoing / incoming mail information, or any combination thereof, and is used for last display. Information and layout information are also stored.

  For example, in the telephone book, a destination name, a telephone number, a mail address, and the like are stored as necessary for each communication partner. The communication history is classified into outgoing and incoming calls, and each time a communication is performed, the destination name of the communication partner and the address of the communication medium (for example, a telephone number for a telephone and a mail address for an email) are recorded. The The memo information stores contact information (for example, a telephone number or an e-mail address of other communication means) when urgently contacting the mobile terminal device 100 when it is lost. The owner information stores an owner name and a method for contacting the owner, which are information related to the owner of the mobile terminal device 100. The outgoing / incoming mail information records the contents of the mail that has been sent or created, and the contents of the incoming mail.

  The last display information is information that is desired to be displayed on the second display unit 110 when the remaining capacity of the battery 102 is low. This information is selected in any one or any combination of the above-described telephone directory, communication history (outgoing / incoming), memo information, owner information, and mail information. Here, when a phone book is selected, it is a destination name to be displayed in the phone book. In the case of memo information or owner information, the contents of each are entered.

The layout information is layout selection information when the last display information is displayed on the second display unit 110. For example, five pieces of layout information (full screen, only under 2 divisions, only above 2 divisions, only 3 divisions) Information indicating which one of the designated division position and the designated division position among the four divisions is selected.
These selections are made by the user depending on the amount of information displayed as the last display information. If any item other than “full screen” is selected, the last display information is displayed at the designated position, and the appearance image displayed so far is held as it is at other positions.
In addition to the above five pieces of layout information, the position and size output by the user may be designated.

Next, an example of setting processing (information registration unit) for registering information necessary for the user in the storage unit 106 as last display information will be described. FIG. 2 shows an example in which the operation unit 105 is operated and registered while viewing the first display unit 101.
The operation unit 105 of the mobile terminal device 100 is operated to display a setting screen as shown in FIG. By operating the cursor movement key of the operation unit 105, the “last display registration mode” is selected, and the “OK” button is pressed.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2B, five options of “last display registration mode” include “phonebook data”, “1 + communication history”, “2 + memo information”, “3 + owner information”, “ “4 + Mail” is displayed. Here, “1” of “1 + communication history” indicates an item number. In this case, “phone book data” and “communication history” are selected as the last display information. Yes. Similarly, “4 + mail” indicates that all information of “phonebook data”, “communication history”, “memo information”, “owner information”, and “mail” is selected as the last display information. ing.
Here, it is assumed that the fourth item is selected by the cursor movement key of the operation unit 105 and the “OK” button is pressed. That is, “phone book data”, “communication history”, “memo information”, and “owner information” are selected.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 2C, a screen for selecting a destination name to be displayed as last display information for “phone book data” having a large amount of information is displayed. A list of all destination names registered in the phone book is displayed on the screen. On this screen, a check box is displayed after the destination name, and the selected destination name is checked.

Here, for “phone book data” and “communication history” having a large amount of information, the amount to be selected is defined. For example, three telephone numbers and e-mail addresses can be registered from “phone book data”. The “communication history” is the maximum number of new cases that can be registered. As for “memo information” and “owner information”, information of up to 100 characters can be registered.
Alternatively, the configuration may be such that 30 items can be registered when the user only needs the phone number of “phone book data” without specifying the quantity.
Further, prior to this last display registration operation, when registering “phone book data”, it may be possible to inquire whether or not the last display is desired and register in advance. Alternatively, the amount of information to be last displayed may not be individually defined, but may be defined depending on whether all information amounts to be registered are the maximum information amount (number of characters) that can be displayed on the second display unit 110. .

In this example, it is assumed that the user has selected three destination names in the phone book data, that is, “Mr. A mobile phone”, “Company B”, “Mr. D mobile phone”, and presses the “OK” button (see FIG. 2 (D)).
Here, it is assumed that “phone number” and “mail address” are automatically selected by selecting a destination name, but only information registered in “phone book data” is selected.

Next, a screen for inputting “memo information” and “owner information” is displayed as shown in FIG. Here, the emergency contact information is a character string as “memo information”, and the user name and home phone number are input as “owner information”.
Here, when “memo information” and “owner information” are registered in advance, the information may be displayed and selected or edited, or “memo information” and “owner information” may be displayed. When registering “information” in another mode, it may be configured to select whether or not to perform the last display.

Next, the layout for the last display is displayed as five options as shown in FIG. That is, the options are “full screen”, “only under 2 divisions”, “only over 2 divisions”, “3 divisions”, and “4 divisions”. However, the layout is not limited to these five types, and it may be configured such that the user can specify the range of the area, or when the last display information is selected (FIG. 2B), The layout may be determined automatically.
In this example, the cursor movement key of the operation unit 105 is used to select “only under 2 divisions” from the five types and press the “OK” button.
The information specified by the above operation is stored in the storage unit 106 as last display information.

  FIG. 3 is an example in which the last display information according to the example shown in FIG. 2 is displayed on the second display unit 110. In the setting of FIG. 2, “only under 2 divisions” is selected as the layout information. Therefore, in the display of FIG. 3, only the lower half of the second display unit 110 divided into 2 is rewritten with the last display information necessary for the user. The mobile terminal device 100 is turned off. In addition, the image displayed as the appearance design is left in the upper half of the second display unit 110.

In the lower half of the second display unit 110, “phone book data”, “communication history”, “memo information”, and “owner information” set in FIG. 2 are displayed.
“Phonebook data” is the three lines under the title “List”, and both the “phone number” and “email address” are registered for the destination name “Mr. A”, so they are displayed together. In addition, since only the “telephone number” is registered for the destination name “Company B”, the “mail address” is not displayed. In addition, since only the “mail address” is registered for the destination name “Mr. D”, “phone number” is not displayed.

  Further, the communication history is classified into titles “outgoing” and “incoming”, each is numbered in the order of the registered new items, and the destination name of the communication destination and the address of the communication medium are displayed. That is, “History 1” is the newest communication history. In the example of FIG. 3, although the destination name is not displayed in the “history 1” of the incoming call history, for example, an incoming call that is not registered in the phone book data received from the first person is shown, and only the telephone number is shown. Is displayed. In this example, the communication medium is only a telephone, but if the latest incoming call is a mail, a mail address is displayed.

In the memo information and the owner information, the character strings registered in FIG. 2 are displayed after the titles “memo information” and “owner information”, respectively. When “mail” is designated as the last display information, the content of the latest mail is displayed after the title “mail”.
As described above, even when the mobile terminal device 100 has run out of battery, the user can immediately view information necessary for the user on a large screen for a long time.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing in the mobile terminal device according to the embodiment of the present invention.
The battery remaining capacity determination unit 103 constantly measures the remaining capacity of the battery 102 and determines whether or not the remaining capacity has become lower than a predetermined value. Here, the predetermined value is power required to display the last display information on the second display unit 110, and is preset and stored in the storage unit 106.
If the remaining capacity becomes smaller than the predetermined value in this determination, a battery remaining capacity low signal is transmitted to the control unit 107 (step S1).

Next, when the control unit 107 receives the low battery level signal, the control unit 107 transmits the low battery level signal to the display control unit 108 (step S2).
The display control unit 108 acquires information corresponding to the last display information registered in the storage unit 106 from the storage unit 106 based on the low battery level signal (step S3), and is registered in the storage unit 106. Based on the layout information, the display on the second display unit 110 is rewritten as shown in FIG. 3 (step S4).
When the rewriting of the second display unit 110 is completed, the display control unit 108 transmits a signal indicating that the last display is completed to the power supply control unit 109 (step S5).
Based on the signal indicating that the last display has been completed, the power supply control unit 109 stops power supply to each unit of the mobile terminal device 100 (turns off the power supply) (step S6).

In the above embodiment, the first display unit 101 and the second display unit 110 are separate display units, but may be the same display unit.
In this case, the first display unit 101 is configured by a display device (for example, electronic paper) that can maintain display without power supply, and includes character information and numeric information input by the operation unit 105, intermediate processing / In addition to displaying results and alarms, it also displays last display information.

Or the 1st display part 101 and the 2nd display part 110 in said embodiment are provided as a different body, and the information for last display is displayed on the 2nd display apparatus (2nd display part 110) provided separately. It is also possible to adopt a configuration such as The second display device at this time is configured by a display device (for example, electronic paper) capable of maintaining display without power supply, and receives the last display information from the mobile terminal device 100 to receive the second display unit. Display similar to 110 is performed.
In addition, for communication between the portable terminal device 100 and the second display device (second display unit) at this time, a wireless LAN (Local Area Network), short-range wireless communication (infrared, Bluetooth (registered trademark), etc.) or wired Any of these may be used.

  Moreover, as each part of the portable terminal device constituting the above-described embodiment, a program for causing a computer to function is created, written in a recording medium in advance, and these programs recorded in the recording medium are stored in the CPU of the portable terminal device. It goes without saying that the object of the present invention can be achieved by executing. In this case, the program itself read from the recording medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the program and the recording medium recording the program also constitute the present invention.

Note that the program for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments includes a disk system (for example, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, etc.), a card system (for example, a memory card, an optical card, etc.), and a semiconductor memory system (for example, a ROM, a nonvolatile memory). Etc.) and a recording medium of any form such as a tape system (for example, magnetic tape, cassette tape, etc.). Alternatively, the program stored in the storage device may be directly supplied from the server computer via the network. In this case, the storage device of this server computer is also included in the recording medium of the present invention.
As described above, by programming and distributing the functions of the above-described embodiment, the cost can be reduced, and the portability and versatility can be improved.

It is a block block diagram which shows the structure of the portable terminal device which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is an example of a screen expansion when registering last display information. It is the example which displayed the information for last display by layout information. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a process of the portable terminal device which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Portable terminal device, 101 ... 1st display part, 102 ... Battery, 103 ... Battery remaining charge determination part, 104 ... Communication part, 105 ... Operation part, 106 ... Memory | storage part, 107 ... Control part, 108 ... Display control part , 109... Power supply control unit, 110... Second display unit.

Claims (8)

  Display means having a display device capable of maintaining display without power supply, storage means for storing useful information of the user, power supply control means for controlling power supply from the battery to each part of the device, A battery remaining amount determination unit that determines that the remaining amount is lower than a predetermined value and outputs a battery remaining amount low signal, and a control that displays useful information of the user stored in the storage unit on the display unit. Display control means, and the display control means detects the low battery level signal and controls the display means to display useful user information stored in the storage means, A portable terminal device, wherein when the display of useful information of the user is completed, the power control unit stops power supply to each part of the device.   2. The portable terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the useful information of the user is any one or any combination of telephone directory data, communication history, memo information, owner information, and mail information. Mobile terminal device.   3. The portable terminal device according to claim 1, further comprising display information registration means for registering useful information of the user in the storage means in advance.   4. The portable terminal device according to claim 1, further comprising layout information registration means for previously registering layout information in the storage means when displaying useful information of the user on the display means. A portable terminal device.   5. The mobile terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the layout information registration unit selects a predetermined area as an area for displaying the user's useful information, or is desired by the user. A portable terminal device characterized by being able to specify a region.   6. The portable terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit displays useful information of the user based on the layout information when the display unit displays the useful information. Mobile terminal device.   7. The portable terminal device according to claim 1, further comprising a communication unit that communicates with another communication device, wherein the display control unit is connected to the battery while the communication unit communicates with the other communication device. When the remaining amount signal is detected, control is performed so that useful information of the user stored in the storage means is displayed on the display means, and when the display of the useful information of the user is completed, the communication means The mobile terminal device is characterized in that the power supply control means stops the power supply to each part of the device.   The power control means controls the power supply from the battery to each part of the device, and the battery remaining capacity determining means determines that the remaining battery capacity is lower than a predetermined value and outputs a battery remaining capacity low signal. A battery remaining amount determination step for output, and a display control step for performing control for displaying useful information of the user stored in the storage means by the display control means on a display device capable of maintaining display without power supply. The display control step detects the battery low signal and controls the display device to display user useful information stored in the storage means. When the display is completed, the power control step stops the power supply to each unit of the apparatus.

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