JP2009055326A - Communication equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress power consumption even when a plurality of communication lines are used. <P>SOLUTION: This communication equipment includes reading means for reading identification information from a plurality of storage media that respectively store the identification information relating to communication lines, communicating means for determining communication lines corresponding to the plurality of storage media on the basis of the identification information read from the plurality of storage media by the reading means to communicate with a base station by using the determined plurality of communication lines, and control means for performing processing for searching a base station that can communicate at respectively determined intervals about the plurality of communication lines and controlling the communicating means so as to be a waiting state for an incoming call on the basis of the result of the search, wherein the control means sets an interval when the communicating means performs the search processing in accordance with the number of communication lines which are in the waiting state. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication apparatus, and more particularly to an apparatus that performs communication using a plurality of communication lines.

  Conventionally, a mobile phone is known as a portable communication device.

  Among mobile phones, particularly in IMT-2000 phones, IC cards called SIM (Subscriber Identification Module) cards are distributed to users.

  Each SIM card stores subscriber identification information such as a telephone (subscriber) number and a carrier (contracted company and its communication method) for each line contract. Then, by placing this SIM card on the telephone and reading the identification information from the SIM card, outgoing and incoming calls can be made. Further, by replacing the SIM card attached to the telephone, it becomes possible to use a plurality of telephones properly using one contract line.

  In addition, when a user contracts a plurality of communication lines alone, a SIM card storing identification information for each contract is provided. Therefore, by replacing the SIM card attached to the telephone, it becomes possible to use a plurality of lines properly with one telephone.

  In addition, a telephone that can be equipped with two SIM cards has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Therefore, a user can make a call using these two lines by using two SIM cards provided by contracting the two lines by the user.

In addition, in this type of mobile phone, when power is turned on, a wireless base station capable of communication is searched, and a cell search for performing location registration is executed. In addition, when a transition from a communicable area to a wireless base station is made out of the service area, a cell search is periodically performed, and a quick transition to the standby state is made when the next service area is restored.
JP2003-189361

  As described above, when the mobile phone is out of the service area and the cell search execution interval is lengthened, the time until the mobile phone shifts to the standby state when the service area returns is delayed. On the other hand, when the cell search interval is short, base station search processing is frequently performed, and the battery remaining amount of the mobile phone is consumed greatly.

  In particular, as described in Patent Document 1, in a mobile phone in which a plurality of SIM cards are attached and communication is possible using a plurality of carriers, cell search and location registration processing are performed for the number of carriers to be used. There is a need.

  Therefore, there is a problem that the power consumption is further increased as compared with the conventional mobile phone using only one carrier.

  An object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems and provide an apparatus capable of suppressing power consumption even when a plurality of communication lines are used.

  In the present invention, a reading means for reading the identification information from a plurality of storage media each storing identification information relating to a communication line, and the identification information read from the plurality of storage media by the reading means. Communication means for determining a communication line corresponding to a plurality of storage media and communicating with a base station using the determined plurality of communication lines, and communication at intervals determined for each of the plurality of communication lines And a control means for controlling the communication means so as to be in a standby state for incoming calls based on a result of the search and executing a process for searching for a possible base station, wherein the control means is a communication in the standby state The communication unit sets an interval for executing the search process according to the number of lines.

  Even when multiple communication lines are used, power consumption can be reduced.

  Hereinafter, embodiments according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a system in which the mobile phone according to the embodiment of the present invention is used.

  A mobile phone (hereinafter referred to as a telephone) 100 is a cellular mobile phone. That is, the telephone 100 performs outgoing and incoming calls via the radio base stations 201 to 203 installed in a plurality of cells, respectively. As is well known, the telephone 100 searches for a radio base station to be used for communication among the plurality of radio base stations 201 to 203. And it communicates via the wireless base station detected as a result of search.

  Next, the telephone 100 will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an external configuration of a telephone 100 as an embodiment of the present invention.

  The telephone 100 in FIG. 1 can perform communication using a plurality of different communication methods. In this embodiment, communication by the W-CDMA system and the CDMA2000 system is possible. Of course, other communication methods may be used, and calls using three or more communication methods may be possible.

  In addition to the voice communication function, the telephone 100 has a multimedia function such as videophone communication, an electronic mail transmission / reception function, and a WEB browsing function. Furthermore, the mobile phone 100 has a phone book function, an electronic notebook function, a function for downloading and using an application such as a game, a navigation function, and a music playback function.

  In the casings 1a and 1b of the telephone 100, an antenna and a vibrator that vibrates when receiving a call are incorporated. The housing 1a is provided with a liquid crystal display (LCD) 2. A speaker 11 is disposed on the upper portion of the display unit 2.

  Further, the telephone 100 is provided with three slots 3, 4, and 5 for mounting a SIM card. Different SIM cards 5 and 6 can be attached to these SIM slots 3, 4 and 5. Each of the SIM cards 6, 7, and 8 can be freely removed.

  In addition, a microphone 10 for inputting voice during a call is arranged at the bottom of the casing 1b, and a key operation unit 9 for inputting operations related to various functions in addition to the calling function is provided at the bottom of the casing 1b. I have.

  The telephone 100 can rotate the housings 1a and 1b in the directions of arrows 12 or 13. It can be closed by rotating the casings 1a and 1b in the arrow 12 direction with the telephone 100 opened. When the telephone 100 is closed, the display unit 2 is inside the telephone. Further, it can be opened by rotating the casings 1a and 1b in the direction of arrow 13 with the telephone 100 closed.

  The user can use various functions by operating the key operation unit 9 with the telephone 100 opened. In addition, incoming calls and mails can be performed even when the telephone 100 is closed.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the telephone 100 of FIG. Note that the block diagram of FIG. 3 mainly describes only the blocks necessary for the call function and the e-mail transmission / reception function. As described above, the telephone 100 has various functions in addition to the telephone call function and the mail transmission / reception function. However, the blocks related to these functions and the detailed description thereof use a well-known configuration and are described in detail. Description is omitted.

  In FIG. 3, various operations of the telephone 100 are controlled by the CPU 106. The CPU 106 controls each unit via the CPU bus 112. Connected to the CPU bus 112 are a RAM 107 and a ROM 108 for storing data and programs, and an EEPROM 109 which is a nonvolatile memory capable of holding data even when the power is turned off.

  The CPU 106 performs control to receive a key input from the key operation unit 9 via the input / output control unit 110 or to light a button of the key operation unit 9. Further, the CPU 106 displays various images and information on the display unit 2 by controlling the display control unit 111.

  Further, the CPU 106 reads the information of the SIM card mounted in the SIM slot (A) 3, the SIM slot (B) 4, and the SIM slot (C) 5 via the external memory I / F 105.

  Reference numeral 113 denotes a rechargeable battery. Reference numeral 114 denotes a power supply unit that supplies power from the battery 113 to each unit of the telephone 100.

  The telephone 100 also includes communication units 101 and 102 for the W-CDMA system and a communication unit 103 for the CDMA2000 system. Then, according to the subscriber information read from the installed SIM cards 4 to 6, one of the communication units 101, 102, and 103 is selected to perform communication.

  That is, when the installed SIM card is compatible with W-CDMA, communication is performed by selecting one of the communication units 101 and 102, and when the SIM card is compatible with CDMA2000, the communication unit is selected. 103 is selected for communication. In the present embodiment, two SIM cards compatible with W-CDMA can be simultaneously mounted for communication. Furthermore, in this embodiment, two SIM cards compatible with W-CDMA and one SIM card compatible with CDMA2000 can be mounted at the same time for communication.

  Then, as is well known, the identification information read from the SIM card is transmitted to the control device of the wireless network via the wireless base station, so that transmission and reception processing can be performed.

  First, basic incoming / outgoing processing of telephone and e-mail in the telephone 100 will be described.

  Here, as an example, processing at the time of an incoming call by the first communication unit 101 will be described. FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a main configuration of the communication units 101 to 103. The communication units 101 to 103 are all composed of similar functional blocks. In FIG. 4, the antenna duplexer 402, the reception unit 403, the transmission unit 404, the frequency synthesizer 405, and the baseband processing unit 406 are each controlled by the CPU 106 via the CPU bus 112.

  2 is received by the antenna 401, and the received signal is received by the receiving unit via the antenna duplexer 402. 403 is input. The receiving unit 403 includes a high frequency amplifier, a frequency converter, and a demodulator. The receiving unit 403 amplifies the received signal with a low noise amplifier and then mixes the received signal with the received local transmission signal generated by the frequency synthesizer 405, and converts the frequency into a received intermediate frequency signal or a received baseband signal. The frequency-converted signal is demodulated by a demodulator.

  The demodulated signal is sent to the baseband processing unit 406 and separated into control data, a voice signal, and e-mail data. The control data is sent to the CPU 106. CPU 106 detects an incoming call according to the control data. When an incoming call is detected, a signal of a specific channel is received, and voice data is detected by the baseband processing unit 406.

  The baseband processing unit 406 detects audio data and sends it to the codec 104. The codec 104 decodes the audio data according to the communication method and outputs it from the speaker 11.

  On the other hand, if it is e-mail data, it is sent to the RAM 107 and stored. The user can arbitrarily read out the e-mail data stored in the RAM 107 and display it on the display unit 2 by operating the key operation unit 9.

  Thus, when a voice call is received, the other party's voice is output from the speaker 11.

  On the other hand, when transmitting voice during a call, the voice signal of the user output from the microphone 10 is encoded by the codec 104 according to the communication method. The encoded audio data is subjected to necessary processing by the baseband processing unit 406, and the transmission unit 404 output to the transmission unit 404 includes a modulator, a frequency converter, and a transmission power amplifier. Then, the transmitter 404 modulates the audio data according to the communication method, mixes it with the transmission local transmission signal generated from the frequency synthesizer 405, and converts the frequency into a radio frequency signal. Then, after the converted signal is amplified, it is transmitted to a base station (not shown) via the antenna duplexer 402 and the antenna 401.

  The user can end the call by operating the key operation unit 9.

  Next, the process at the time of transmission will be described.

  The user operates the key operation unit 9 to input the other party's telephone number and instruct to make a call. When the CPU 106 is instructed to transmit, the CPU 106 transmits data for transmission to the baseband processing unit 406. First, the baseband processing unit 406 sends data for a transmission request to the transmission unit 404. The transmission unit 404 modulates, frequency converts, and amplifies the transmission request data as described above, and transmits the data to the base station using the channel specified by the antenna duplexer 402 and the antenna 401.

  After the transmission request is transmitted, the CPU 106 detects whether or not the line with the other party is connected based on the control data transmitted from the base station. When the line connection with the other party is confirmed, the process of receiving the other party's voice data and transmitting the voice here is executed as in the case of the incoming call.

  When transmitting an e-mail, the user uses the key operation unit 9 to instruct mail creation. When mail creation is instructed, the CPU 106 controls the display control unit 111 to display a mail creation screen on the display unit 2. The user inputs a transmission destination address and text using the key operation unit 9 and instructs transmission. When the CPU 106 is instructed to send mail, the CPU 106 sends address information to the baseband processing unit 406 and sends text data to the codec 104. The codec 104 encodes the text data and sends it to the baseband processing unit 406.

  The baseband processing unit 406 sends the address and text data to the transmission unit 404, performs processing such as modulation by the transmission unit 404, and transmits the processed data to the base station via the antenna duplexer 402 and the antenna 401.

  The antenna sharing device 402 detects the intensity of the radio wave transmitted from the base station, and sends the detection result to the CPU 106 via the CPU bus 112.

  In the present embodiment, the subscriber identification information is read from the SIM card mounted in the SIM slot (A) 3, the SIM slot (B) 4, and the SIM slot (C) 5, and communication processing is performed based on the subscriber information. .

  Here, information stored in the SIM card will be described.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing information stored in the SIM card.

  Each SIM card stores an IC card ID 501, an international mobile terminal number 502, an authentication key value 506, a PIN code 507, phone book information 510, mail data 512, and reserve 513.

  The IC card ID 501 is information for uniquely identifying the card. The international mobile terminal number 502 is information for specifying a subscriber provided by a contracted carrier. The international mobile terminal number 502 includes a mobile communication country number 503, a mobile communication network identification number 504, and a mobile terminal identification number 505. The country of the carrier contracted by the mobile communication country number 703 can be identified, and the carrier contracted by the mobile communication network identification number 504 can be identified. A mobile terminal identification number 505 is provided to the subscriber as a telephone number.

  The authentication key value 506 is information for authenticating with the telephone in order to access the telephone network provided by the carrier. A PIN (Personal Identify Number) code 507 is an authentication code for specifying a user when a SIM card is installed in a telephone in order to prevent unauthorized use by a third party. Two types of PIN codes can be stored.

  The telephone directory 510 includes a destination fixed telephone directory 511 that can be transmitted by inputting a PIN code 509.

  In the telephone set 100 of this embodiment, the SIM card cannot be removed from the SIM slot while the power is on. Therefore, when the user inserts and ejects the SIM card, the telephone 100 is turned off.

  Then, after the SIM card is ejected and attached while the power is turned off, when the power is turned on by operating the key operation unit 9, the CPU 106 has a SIM card installed in each SIM slot. Determine whether or not.

  Then, when the SIM card is mounted, the subscriber information as shown in FIG. 5 is read from each SIM card, and authentication is performed using a PIN code. That is, the CPU 106 displays a screen for PIN code authentication of each SIM card on the display unit 2, and the user inputs the PIN code using the key operation unit 9.

  As a result of the input, if the PIN codes match and are correctly authenticated, information indicating that the SIM card has been authenticated is stored in the RAM 107.

  The CPU 106 similarly performs PIN code authentication processing for each SIM card.

  Then, the communication line to be used is determined based on the identification information of the SIM card that has been authenticated, and the communication unit for performing communication using the communication line of each SIM card among the communication units 101 to 103 is assigned to each SIM card. Determine in association with the card.

  Also, the application program information set for each contracted line based on the identification information is read from the ROM 108, and user information such as wallpaper and address information is read from the EEPROM 109. Each read information is stored in the RAM 107.

  In the present embodiment, when the SIM card is not attached, the function using the communication units 101 to 103 cannot be used, but other functions can be used.

  As described above, when the power is turned on, the authentication process is executed in accordance with the identification information read from the SIM card installed in the SIM slots 3, 4, and 5.

  Next, cell search processing associated with power-on of the telephone 100 will be described.

  In a telephone that performs communication using the W-CDMA system or the CDMA2000 system, a base station that can communicate with itself is searched from radio base stations that cover a large number of cells included in each location registration area. Then, the cell to which the telephone 100 belongs is detected by communicating via the base station detected as a result of the search, and the location information is registered by transmitting the identification information read from each SIM card to the control device of the wireless network. .

  In the telephone set 100 according to the present embodiment, after the power is turned on, the cell search operation as described above is executed following the recognition processing of each SIM card as described above.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a process related to the cell search executed when the power is turned on. The process of FIG. 6 is also executed at the timing when the count value of the built-in counter of the CPU 106 matches the variable T, as will be described later. Note that the processing in FIG. 6 is executed by the CPU 106.

  First, it is determined whether or not the process is immediately after power-on (S601). If it is not immediately after the power is turned on, that is, if it is a process when the value of the built-in counter reaches T as will be described later, the process proceeds to S603.

  On the other hand, if it is immediately after the power is turned on, the count value COUNT of the built-in counter and the variable T are reset (S602). The variable T is a variable that determines the execution interval of the cell search process.

  Next, it is determined whether or not the SIM card A has been authenticated (S603). If not authenticated (including the case where the SIM card A is not attached), the process proceeds to S606. If it has been authenticated, it is determined whether or not the communication line corresponding to the SIM card A is in an incoming call waiting state (S604). If it is in the standby state, the process proceeds to S605. Since it is not in a standby state after the power is turned on, the process proceeds to cell search processing (S605).

  The cell search process will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Note that the processing of FIG. 7 is executed in common for each SIM card.

  First, the radio field intensity from surrounding base stations is determined (S701). Here, when the radio field intensity exceeds the threshold, the communication unit corresponding to the selected SIM card is searched for a communicable base station among the surrounding radio base stations (S702).

  As a result of the search, it is determined whether or not the base station has been detected (S703). If the base station has been detected, communication is performed with the base station, and location registration processing is performed using a known technique (S704). ). Then, the communication line corresponding to the selected SIM card is set to a standby state, and that effect is stored in the RAM 107 (S705).

  On the other hand, if the radio wave intensity is equal to or less than the threshold value in S703, or if the base station cannot be detected in S703, the process is terminated as an out-of-service state.

  Returning to FIG. 6, after completion of the cell search process of the SIM card A, it is determined whether or not the SIM card B has been authenticated (S606). If not authenticated, the process proceeds to S608. If it has been authenticated, it is determined whether or not the communication line corresponding to the SIM card B is in a standby state (S607). If it is not in the standby state, the process proceeds to the cell search process for the SIM card B in FIG. 7 (S608). If it is in the standby state, the process proceeds to S609.

  After completion of the cell search process for the SIM card B, it is determined whether or not the SIM card C has been authenticated (S609). If not authenticated, the process proceeds to S611. If it has been authenticated, it is determined whether or not the communication line corresponding to the SIM card C is in a standby state (S610). If it is not in the standby state, the process proceeds to the cell search process for the SIM card B in FIG. 7 (S611). If it is in the standby state, the process proceeds to S612.

  Then, it is determined whether or not the number of communication lines in the standby state among the SIM cards A to C is equal to or greater than a threshold value (S612).

  If the number of lines in the standby state is not greater than or equal to the threshold, the interval until the next cell search process is executed is set to T1, and this T1 is added to the count value of the counter (S613). On the other hand, if the number of standby lines is equal to or greater than the threshold, the interval until the next cell search process is executed is set to T2 longer than T1, and this T2 is added to the count value of the counter (S614).

  Then, the CPU 106 executes the process of FIG. 6 in response to the value COUNT of the built-in counter becoming T or more.

  Next, processing in a waiting state for incoming calls will be described.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the processing of the CPU 106 in the standby state. Note that the process of FIG. 8 is repeatedly executed at a predetermined timing for the SIM card in the standby state among the SIM cards A to C mounted in the SIM slot.

  First, the radio wave intensity for the communication line corresponding to the SIM card is compared with a threshold value (S801). If the radio wave intensity is larger than the threshold value, a known technique is used to receive a signal of a predetermined channel by the communication unit, and the current location registration area is detected using the received data (S802). If the position registration area can be detected, the process ends. If the location registration area can be detected, publicly known processing such as location registration area transition determination and location registration processing using this location registration area is executed. Omit.

  On the other hand, if the radio wave intensity is equal to or less than the threshold value in S801, or if the location registration area cannot be detected in S802, the standby state is canceled and the out-of-service state is set (S803). Information indicating that the currently selected communication line is out of service is stored in the RAM 107.

  In the present embodiment, the threshold value used in S611 of FIG. 6 can be set by the user operating the operation unit 9. That is, the user operates the operation unit 9 to display a menu screen on the display unit 2 and uses this menu screen to set a threshold value for the number of lines in the standby state.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the cell search processing interval is set when the number of communication lines in the standby state among communication lines corresponding to the SIM card mounted on the telephone 100 is equal to or larger than the threshold value. It is long.

  Therefore, after a line equal to or greater than the threshold set by the user enters a standby state, the cell search process interval can be lengthened to reduce power consumption.

  In this embodiment, the user sets a threshold for the number of lines in the standby state. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a predetermined number of lines are set as the threshold, and the predetermined number of lines are in the standby state. Alternatively, the cell search interval may be increased at a certain point.

  In the present embodiment, the case where three SIM slots are provided and three SIM cards can be simultaneously installed has been described. However, two SIM cards or four or more SIM cards may be mounted.

  For example, when two SIM cards are installed and communication is performed using two lines, when one of the lines enters a standby state, the cell search processing interval of the other line may be increased. Good.

  In the above-described embodiment, the CDMA2000 and W-CDMA systems are used as the communication system. However, other cellular communication systems can be used.

  In the above-described embodiment, the subscriber identification information is read from the SIM card and the communication line is set. However, the same applies to the case where identification information stored in another storage medium is used instead of the SIM card. The present invention can be applied to.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to a mobile phone has been described. However, the present invention can be similarly applied to other devices that perform communication using a plurality of communication lines. .

It is an external view of the mobile phone in the embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structure of the system by which the mobile telephone of embodiment is used. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the mobile telephone in embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of a communication part. It is a figure which shows the identification information stored in the SIM card. It is a flowchart which shows the space | interval setting operation | movement of a cell search process. It is a flowchart which shows a cell search process. It is a flowchart which shows the process at the time of standby.

Claims (6)

Read means for reading the identification information from a plurality of storage media each storing identification information relating to a communication line;
A communication line corresponding to the plurality of storage media is determined based on the identification information read from the plurality of storage media by the reading means, and between the base station using the determined plurality of communication lines A communication means for performing communication;
Control means for executing a process of searching for a base station capable of communicating at a predetermined interval for each of the plurality of communication lines and for controlling the communication means so as to be in a standby state for incoming calls based on a result of the search. ,
The communication device is characterized in that the control means sets an interval at which the communication means executes the search process according to the number of communication lines in the standby state.   The control means sets the interval to the first interval when the number of communication lines in the standby state has not reached the threshold, and sets the interval to the first when the threshold has been reached. The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second interval is set to be longer than the second interval.   The communication apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising setting means for setting the threshold value.   The control means is configured to execute the search process at the set interval for a communication line that is not in a standby state among a plurality of communication lines determined by identification information of the plurality of storage media. 4. The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the communication apparatus is controlled.   The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the communication unit includes a plurality of communication units that perform communication using different communication methods. Read means for reading the identification information from a plurality of storage media each storing identification information relating to a communication line;
A communication line corresponding to the plurality of storage media is determined based on the identification information read from the plurality of storage media by the reading means, and between the base station using the determined plurality of communication lines A communication means for performing communication;
Control means for executing a process of searching for a base station capable of communicating at a predetermined interval for each of the plurality of communication lines and for controlling the communication means so as to be in a standby state for incoming calls based on a result of the search. ,
The control means extends an interval for executing the search process for a communication line that is not in a standby state in response to any of the plurality of communication lines being in a standby state. A communication device.

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