JP2007323270A - Mobile terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mobile terminal automatically communicating positional information to a communication terminal of a guardian or the like when a predetermined situation occurs without requiring an operator to push buttons. <P>SOLUTION: The mobile terminal comprises: a positional information acquiring section 7 for acquiring the positional information; and a control section 6 for monitoring occurrence of the predetermined situation, such as failure of a peripheral device 4, and for controlling to communicate the positional information to the communication device of the guardian as a predetermined contact destination which has been registered when the occurrence is detected. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a portable terminal having a GPS position information positioning function.

  According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, “A third-generation mobile terminal newly provided by mobile phone operators since April 2007 will support the location information notification function based on the GPS positioning method as a general rule.” In Japan, which is becoming increasingly popular, such mobile phone technology is regarded as important. Patent Document 1 describes a portable terminal capable of transmitting position information to a monitoring center even when the user cannot detect position information by GPS indoors such as at home. Patent Document 2 describes a portable terminal that can transmit position information to a system operator in accordance with a predetermined operation by a user and receive a protection / care service registered in advance in the system.

JP 2005-284887 A JP 2005-173854 A

  In a conventional mobile phone, in order for position information to be generally communicated, a user of the mobile phone needs to operate the mobile phone by himself. However, for example, even if the guardian promises his child that “send location information if he / she feels danger”, if the user is a child, he / she may operate the mobile phone calmly in the face of danger. There are cases where it is not possible to do so, or there is a case where it is not intentionally operated on its own intention such as a detour. When such a situation occurs, there is a problem that the position information is not communicated to the guardian's communication terminal.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems. When a predetermined situation occurs, the mobile terminal replaces the user with a predetermined communication destination such as a guardian's communication terminal. An object is to obtain a portable terminal that automatically communicates position information.

  The portable terminal according to the present invention monitors the occurrence of a predetermined situation and a position information acquisition unit that acquires position information, and performs control to communicate the position information to a predetermined communication destination when the occurrence is detected. And a control unit.

  According to the mobile terminal of the present invention, when a predetermined situation occurs, the mobile terminal can automatically communicate position information to a predetermined communication destination.

<Embodiment 1>
The mobile terminal according to the present invention can be applied to, for example, a mobile phone possessed by a child or an elderly person, or a PDA (Personal Digital Assistants), and hereinafter applied to a mobile phone possessed by a child. Will be described. As shown in the external view of FIG. 1, the mobile phone includes a display device 1 such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) that displays an image, an operation key 2 that receives a signal from a user, a camera 3 that acquires an image, And a breakage detection sensor 11. The destruction detection sensor 11 is a sensor that detects application of an impact to the main body of the mobile phone, and is provided at a location having low destruction resistance in the main body as shown in the figure.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the mobile phone of FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the peripheral device 4, the control unit 6, a position information acquisition unit 7 that acquires position information measured by a GPS positioning method, and a communication network such as a FOMA network that receives position information and normal communication signals. A communication unit 8 that communicates with the mobile phone body, and an external force detection unit 9 that detects that an external force is applied to the mobile phone body.

  The peripheral device 4 is controlled by the control unit 6 and corresponds to the display device 1, the operation key 2, and the camera 3 shown in FIG. The display device 1 and the camera 3 each have a memory 5. The external force detection unit 9 includes an acceleration sensor 10 that detects acceleration and the destruction detection sensor 11 described above.

  The control unit 6 is connected to the peripheral device 4 via a bus or the like. For example, a processor (CPU) that performs communication processing, UI (user interface) / application processing, or the like is used. The control unit 6 performs normal communication control, monitors the occurrence of a predetermined situation, and detects the position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit 7 via the communication unit 8 when the occurrence is detected. Control is performed to communicate with, for example, a guardian's communication terminal, which is a predetermined communication destination registered in advance by the user. This predetermined situation includes a situation in which the self (that is, the mobile phone itself) has failed and a situation in which the self will fail.

  The situation where the self has failed includes a case where a failure of the peripheral device 4 is detected (hereinafter, “peripheral device failure”). A specific example of the failure detection is shown below. The display device 1 such as an LCD and the camera 3 include a memory 5 having a RAM and a register and a control IC. The control unit 6 periodically transmits a test signal to a RAM or a register in the memory 5 or the like. And the control part 6 detects that the display device 1 and the camera 3 are out of order by receiving the test signal after passing through these, and diagnosing by expected value comparison. In the failure detection of the operation key 2, when the control unit 6 detects that the operation key 2 is continuously pressed down for a predetermined time or more, it detects that the operation key 2 is broken.

  The situation in which the self is at fault includes a case where the external force detection unit 9 detects that an external force of a predetermined level or more is applied. The situation in which the mobile phone is broken is assumed to be struck against the ground as shown in FIG. 3, for example. As described above, the external force detection unit 9 includes the acceleration sensor 10 and the breakage detection sensor 11. Specifically, when the acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor 10 exceeds a predetermined value (hereinafter, “excess acceleration”), or when the application of an impact is detected by the fracture detection sensor 11 (hereinafter, “impact application”). Detecting that an external force exceeding a predetermined level is applied.

  The breakdown detection sensor 11 that detects the application of impact uses, for example, a sensor having an electric wire inside, and periodically monitors whether or not the electric wire is disconnected by periodically monitoring the value of the current flowing therethrough. Monitor. When an impact is applied to such a breakage detection sensor 11 and an internal electric wire is disconnected, the current value changes. By detecting this change, the breakage detection sensor 11 detects the application of an impact.

  When a mobile phone having the above configuration detects a “peripheral device failure” as a failure of itself, or when it detects “excessive acceleration” or “impact application” as a failure of itself, The control unit 6 performs control to communicate the position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit 7 to the communication terminal of a guardian who is a predetermined communication destination via the communication unit 8.

  By operating in this way, for example, when a child possesses the mobile phone according to the present embodiment, someone is hit by the mobile phone against the ground and destroyed, or the mobile phone fails due to assault The mobile phone automatically communicates the location information to the parent's communication terminal. Accordingly, the guardian can know the emergency situation of the child and can rush to the location of the child based on the position information, so that the safety of the child can be ensured.

  Even in such a situation as described above, there are cases where the peripheral device 4 does not fail or the position information acquisition unit 7 fails first and the position information is not communicated. However, even in such a case, if the external force detection unit 9 detects an external force as a situation that occurs prior to the failure of the mobile phone, the mobile phone automatically transmits position information to the guardian. Communicating with other communication terminals. In this way, parents can know the child's emergency that cannot be detected by "peripheral device failure" and can rush to the child's location based on the location information, thus ensuring further child safety. it can.

<Embodiment 2>
FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of the mobile phone according to this embodiment. Although a part of the configuration of the first embodiment is omitted, these configurations may be provided so that the operation of the first embodiment can also be performed. In the present embodiment, a storage unit 12 is provided for storing registration area information and / or registration route information. This registration area information and registration route information are composed of a plurality of pieces of position information. FIG. 5 shows an example of use of the cellular phone according to this embodiment. As shown in the figure, for example, the school district 52 of the child 51 is used for the registration area, and the school route 53 is used for the registration route. In the present embodiment, the predetermined situation is that the position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit 7 deviates from the registration area and / or registration route stored in the storage unit 12 (hereinafter referred to as “area / Off-route ").

  When the mobile phone having the above-described configuration detects “out of area / route” as a predetermined situation, the control unit 6 transmits the position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit 7 via the communication unit 8. Then, control is performed to communicate with a predetermined communication destination, for example, a guardian's communication terminal.

  By operating in this manner, for example, when a child is kidnapped and leaves the school district 52 with the mobile phone according to the present embodiment, or deliberately departs from the school road 53 with his own intention such as a detour. When the mobile phone is disconnected, the mobile phone automatically communicates the location information to the guardian's communication terminal. As a result, parents can report their location information to the police, etc., to ensure the safety of their children, or to check their facts after returning home so that they can keep their children under control. Become.

<Embodiment 3>
FIG. 6 shows a block diagram of the mobile phone according to this embodiment. Although some configurations of the first embodiment and the second embodiment are omitted, these configurations may be provided so that the operations of the first and second embodiments can be performed. In the present embodiment, a radio wave detection unit 13 that detects a radio wave state is provided. In the present embodiment, the predetermined situation includes a case where the intensity state of the radio wave detected by the radio wave detection unit 13 becomes a predetermined weak state (hereinafter, “radio wave weak”).

  In the mobile phone having the above configuration, when “weak radio wave” is detected as a predetermined situation, the control unit 6 transmits the position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit 7 via the communication unit 8 to a predetermined state. For example, control is performed to communicate with the communication terminal of the guardian.

  By operating in this manner, for example, before the child is kidnapped and enters the out-of-communication area 54 as shown in FIG. Before entering the out-of-service area 54, the mobile phone automatically communicates the location information to the guardian's communication terminal. Thereby, before communication becomes impossible, position information can be communicated to a guardian's communication terminal. And parents can keep their children under control by reporting their location information to the police etc. to ensure the safety of their children or checking the facts after returning home. .

1 is a diagram showing a mobile phone according to Embodiment 1. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a mobile phone according to Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows the situation where the mobile telephone which concerns on Embodiment 1 leads to a failure. 6 is a block diagram of a mobile phone according to Embodiment 2. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of use of a mobile phone according to Embodiment 2. FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a mobile phone according to Embodiment 3. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Display device, 2 Operation key, 3 Camera, 4 Peripheral device, 5 Memory, 6 Control part, 7 Position information acquisition part, 8 Communication part, 9 External force detection part, 10 Acceleration sensor, 11 Destruction detection sensor, 12 Storage part, 13 Radio wave detection unit, 51 User, 52 Registration area, 53 Registration route, 54 Out of communication range.

Claims (8)

A location information acquisition unit for acquiring location information;
A controller that monitors the occurrence of a predetermined situation and performs control to communicate the position information to a predetermined communication destination when the occurrence is detected;
Mobile device. The predetermined situation includes a situation in which the self fails and / or a situation in which the self fails.
The mobile terminal according to claim 1. A peripheral device controlled by the control unit;
The failure situation is
Including a case where a failure of the peripheral device is detected,
The mobile terminal according to claim 2. It further includes an external force detection unit that detects that an external force is applied,
The situation leading to the failure is
Including a case where the external force detection unit detects that an external force of a predetermined level or more is applied,
The mobile terminal according to claim 3. The external force detector includes an acceleration sensor,
The mobile terminal according to claim 4. The external force detection unit includes a breakage detection sensor that detects application of an impact,
The mobile terminal according to claim 4 or 5. A storage unit for storing registration area information and / or registration route information;
The predetermined situation is
Including the case where the position indicated by the position information deviates from the registration area and / or the registration route;
The mobile terminal according to claim 1. It further includes a radio wave detection unit that detects a radio wave state,
The predetermined situation is
Including the case where the radio wave state detected by the radio wave detection unit is in a predetermined weak state,
The mobile terminal according to claim 1.

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