JP2009253859A - Electronic device comprising remote controller - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce power consumption of an electronic device main body and a remoter controller, and to notify without fail the position of the remote controller so as to prevent communication between the electronic device main body and the remote controller from becoming difficult to establish depending on the distance between the electronic device main body and the remote controller. <P>SOLUTION: A TV receiving apparatus 1 comprises a TV receiver 2 and a remote controller 3 that transmits a remote control signal to remotely control the TV receiver 2. The TV receiver 2 comprises a remote control signal reception part 7 and a radio wave transmission part 9 that transmits radio waves to the remote controller 3. The remote controller 3 comprises a remote control signal transmission part 12 that transmits a remote control signal, a radio wave reception part 13 that receives radio waves transmitted by the wave radio transmission part 9, a radio wave intensity measuring part 15 that measures the intensity of the received radio wave, and a notifying part 14 that notifies the position of the remote controller 3 based on the measured intensity of the radio wave. The radio wave transmission part 9 transmits radio waves to the remote controller 3 at fixed periods. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic apparatus such as a television receiver provided with a remote control device.

  In general, an electronic device such as a television receiver includes a remote control device for remotely operating an electronic device main body. For example, in a television receiver, a signal (hereinafter referred to as “remote control signal”) for remotely operating a television receiver, which is the main body of an electronic device, corresponding to the operation content of an operation unit such as a button provided on the remote control device. .)) Is transmitted from the remote control device to the television receiver, so that the television receiver is remotely operated. Moreover, an electronic device that transmits radio waves from the electronic device body to the remote control device is disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 1).

Here, as an electronic device that transmits radio waves to the remote control device as described above, the radio waves transmitted by the remote control device are received and the received radio waves can be easily found when the remote control device is lost. What is notified according to the intensity | strength of is disclosed (for example, refer patent document 2). More specifically, radio waves are transmitted (transmitted) from the electronic device main body (operated electric device), and the radio waves transmitted by the remote control device are received by the antenna. Then, in the remote control device, the received radio wave signal is compared with the reference voltage, and a speaker provided in the remote control device is operated based on the comparison result. That is, the greater the distance between the electronic device main body and the remote control device, the smaller the intensity (electric field strength) of the received radio wave, so that the position of the remote control device is notified according to the intensity of the received radio wave.
JP 2000-91930 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-111081

  However, in the electronic device described in Patent Document 2, when radio waves are always transmitted from the electronic device main body in order to notify the position of the remote control device, the electronic device main body and the remote control are always transmitted and received. There has been a problem that the power consumption of the apparatus increases. In addition, in an electronic device as described in Patent Document 2, when a radio wave is transmitted from a radio wave transmission unit when an operation unit (switch) provided in the electronic device body is turned on, the radio wave is transmitted. At this time, there is a possibility that the remote control device may be in a position where it is difficult to receive radio waves from the electronic device main body, and there is a problem that the position of the remote control device cannot be notified.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to reduce power consumption of the electronic device main body and the remote control device, and the electronic device according to the distance between the electronic device main body and the remote control device. An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic device that can reliably notify the position of a remote control device so that communication between the main body and the remote control device does not become difficult.

  The invention according to claim 1 includes an electronic device main body and a remote control device that transmits a remote control signal for remotely operating the electronic device main body, the electronic device main body receiving a remote control signal, A remote control device that transmits a radio wave to the remote control device. The remote control device receives a remote control signal transmission unit that transmits a remote control signal, a radio wave reception unit that receives a radio wave transmitted by the radio wave transmission unit, and a radio wave reception unit. A radio field intensity measuring unit that measures the intensity of the radio wave received, and a notifying unit that reports the position of the remote control device based on the radio wave intensity measured by the radio field intensity measuring unit. An electronic device characterized by transmitting radio waves to a remote control device every time.

  According to this configuration, the radio wave transmission unit of the electronic device main body periodically transmits radio waves to the remote control device without always transmitting radio waves. Therefore, the remote control device periodically receives radio waves and transmits radio waves. Intensity is measured. Therefore, since the radio wave transmission unit does not always transmit radio waves, the power consumption of the electronic device main body can be reduced compared to a configuration in which radio waves are always transmitted, and the remote control device must always receive radio waves. Therefore, the power consumption of the remote control device can be reduced. In addition, since the radio wave transmission unit transmits radio waves at regular intervals, for example, compared to a configuration in which the radio wave transmission unit transmits radio waves when an operation unit provided in the electronic device main body is operated, the electronic device main body According to the distance between the remote control device and the remote control device, the position of the remote control device can be reliably notified so that communication between the electronic device main body and the remote control device does not become difficult.

  Invention of Claim 2 is the electronic device of Claim 1, Comprising: The electronic device main body is further equipped with the position detection signal generation part which produces | generates the position detection signal for detecting the position of a remote control apparatus, The radio wave transmission unit further transmits the position detection signal generated by the position detection signal generation unit as a radio wave. The notification unit, when the radio wave received by the radio wave reception unit is a position detection signal, The position is notified.

  According to the configuration, the radio wave transmission unit transmits a position detection signal for detecting the position of the remote control device generated by the position detection signal generation unit as a radio wave, and the notification unit is received by the radio wave reception unit. When the radio wave is a position detection signal, the position of the remote control device is notified. For this reason, when the remote control device is lost, the position of the lost remote control device can be notified by transmitting a position detection signal as a radio wave by the radio wave transmission unit. In addition, since the periodically transmitted radio wave described in claim 1 and the radio wave of the position detection signal are transmitted by the same radio wave transmission unit, the configuration of the electronic device main body for transmitting the radio wave is simply configured. It can be.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the electronic device according to the second aspect, the remote controller compares the radio wave intensity measured by the radio wave intensity measuring unit with a preset threshold value, and the radio wave intensity. In order to prevent the radio wave receiving unit from receiving the radio wave of the position detection signal when the intensity of the radio wave measured by the measurement unit is smaller than the threshold value, the notification unit is controlled to notify the position of the remote control device. The remote control side control part to perform is provided.

  According to this configuration, the remote control device prevents the radio wave receiving unit from receiving the radio wave of the position detection signal if the radio wave intensity measured by the radio wave intensity measuring unit is smaller than a preset threshold value. Further, a remote control unit for controlling the notification unit so as to notify the position of the remote control device is provided. For this reason, it is possible to prevent the remote control device from receiving radio waves of the position detection signal transmitted from the electronic device main body, and when the remote control device is lost, the radio wave transmission unit transmits the position detection signal as radio waves. Thus, the position of the lost remote control device can be reliably notified.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the power consumption of the electronic device main body and the remote control device as compared with a configuration that always transmits radio waves, and the radio wave transmission unit when the operation unit provided in the electronic device main body is operated. Compared to the configuration of transmitting radio waves, the position of the remote control device can be reliably notified so that communication between the electronic device main body and the remote control device does not become difficult.

  Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an electronic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, a television receiver 1 that is an electronic device is used to operate a television receiver 2 that is a main body of an electric device that receives broadcast signals and outputs video and audio, and the television receiver 2. And a remote control device 3.

  The television receiver 2 is subjected to signal processing and a signal processing unit 4 composed of an integrated circuit that performs various signal processing on a broadcast signal (video signal and audio signal) received by an antenna A provided outside. A display 5 for displaying video based on the video signal and a speaker 6 for reproducing audio based on the audio signal subjected to signal processing are provided.

  Furthermore, the television receiver 2 includes a remote control signal receiving unit 7 that receives a remote control signal transmitted from the remote control device 3, a main body side control unit 8 that controls each part of the television receiver 2, and a remote control using a position detection signal as a radio wave. And a radio wave transmitting unit 9 for transmitting to the device 3.

  The remote control signal receiving unit 7 includes, for example, a light receiving element (not shown) for receiving infrared rays and an integrated circuit (not shown) that performs demodulation for obtaining a remote control signal from infrared rays. The received remote control signal is output to the main body control unit 8.

  The main body side control unit 8 is, for example, a CPU (not shown) that performs arithmetic processing based on a program stored in a memory (not shown), and broadcasts in the signal processing unit 4 based on an input remote control signal. By controlling signal processing on the signal, the output of video and audio on the display 5 and the speaker 6 is controlled. Further, the main body side control unit 8 which is a position detection signal generation unit detects a position of the remote control device 3 when the operation unit 8a for remote control device search provided in the television receiver 2 is operated. By generating a detection signal and outputting the generated position detection signal to the radio wave transmission unit 9, the radio wave transmission unit 9 is controlled to transmit the radio wave.

  The radio wave transmission unit 9 is, for example, an integrated circuit (not shown) that modulates the position detection signal to transmit the position detection signal input from the main body side control unit 8 by radio wave, or an antenna for radio wave transmission (not shown). It is composed of When a position detection signal is input from the main body side control unit 8, the radio wave transmission unit 9 transmits the position detection signal to the remote control device 3 as a radio wave.

  The wireless remote control device 3 includes an operation unit 10 including buttons for a user to operate the television receiver 2, a remote control unit 11 that controls each unit of the remote control device 3, and receives a remote control signal on a television. A remote control signal transmission unit 12 for transmission to the machine 2.

  The remote control side control unit 11 is, for example, a microcomputer incorporating a CPU core and a memory (both not shown), generates a remote control signal according to the operation content of the operation unit 10, and uses the generated remote control signal as a remote control. By outputting the signal to the signal transmission unit 12, the remote control signal transmission unit 12 is controlled to transmit the remote control signal.

  The remote control signal transmission unit 12 includes, for example, an integrated circuit (not shown) that modulates a remote control signal in order to transmit the remote control signal with infrared rays, and a light emitting element (not shown) for infrared transmission. When the remote control signal is input from the remote control side control unit 11, the unit 12 transmits the remote control signal as infrared rays to the television receiver 2.

  Furthermore, the remote control device 3 includes a radio wave reception unit 13 that receives a radio wave transmitted from the television receiver 2, and a notification unit 14 that notifies the position of the remote control device 3 when a radio wave including a position detection signal is received. It has. That is, the television receiver 1 has a locator function (position detection function) for searching for the remote control device 3 when the remote control device 3 is lost and the location of the remote control device 3 becomes unknown.

  The radio wave receiving unit 13 includes, for example, a radio wave receiving antenna (not shown) and an integrated circuit (not shown) that demodulates the radio wave to obtain a signal included in the received radio wave. Outputs the received position detection signal to the remote controller 11. When the position detection signal is input from the radio wave receiver 13, the remote controller side controller 11 controls the operation of the notification unit 14 by outputting a control signal for operating the notification unit 14 to the notification unit 14. .

  The notification unit 14 is a small speaker that generates a sound (that is, outputs a sound), and generates a sound based on a control signal input from the remote control side control unit 11 so that the position of the remote control device 3 is determined by the user. To inform.

The operation related to the locator function in the television receiver 1 will be described in more detail with reference to FIG.
First, when the location of the remote control device 3 is not known, the user of the television receiver 1 operates the remote control device search operation unit 8a (for example, a button) provided in the television receiver 2 (step S1). . Next, the main body side control unit 8 detects that the operation unit 8a has been operated, and the main body side control unit 8 generates a position detection signal for detecting the position of the remote control device 3, and the generated position By outputting the detection signal to the radio wave transmission unit 9, the radio wave transmission unit 9 transmits the radio wave including the position detection signal to the remote control device 3 (step S2).

  Next, the radio wave receiver 13 of the remote control device 3 receives the radio wave transmitted from the television receiver 2 (more specifically, the radio wave transmitter 9 of the television receiver 2) (step S3). Then, the position detection signal is output from the radio wave reception unit 13 to the remote control unit 11, so that the remote control unit 11 outputs a control signal for controlling the notification unit 14 to the notification unit 14. The unit 14 notifies the user of the position of the remote control device 3 (step S4).

  As described above, when the operation unit 8a of the television receiver 2 is operated by the user, the notification unit 14 of the remote control device 3 notifies the user of the position, so that the user knows the location of the remote control device 3. be able to.

  Here, in the present embodiment, the radio wave transmission unit 9 of the television receiver 2 is configured to transmit a monitoring radio wave to the remote control device 3 at regular intervals separately from the signal including the position detection signal. Yes. The remote control device 3 is further provided with a radio wave intensity measuring unit 15 that measures the intensity of radio waves for monitoring. Hereinafter, the periodic operation of the television receiver 1 when a monitoring radio wave is transmitted from the television receiver 2 will be described more specifically with reference to FIG.

  First, the radio wave transmission unit 9 transmits a radio wave for monitoring to the remote control device 3 (step S11). Here, the radio wave periodically transmitted by the radio wave transmission unit 9 is different from the radio wave including the position detection signal. Next, the radio wave receiver 13 of the remote control device 3 receives the radio wave transmitted from the television receiver 2 (more specifically, the radio wave transmitter 9 of the television receiver 2), similarly to step S3 (step S12). ).

  Next, the radio wave intensity measuring unit 15 measures the intensity (that is, the electric field intensity) of the monitoring radio wave received by the antenna (not shown) of the radio wave receiving unit 13 (step S13). Then, a signal indicating the intensity of the radio wave measured by the radio wave intensity measuring unit 15 is output to the remote control unit 11.

  Next, the remote controller 11 performs a comparison operation between the intensity of the radio wave measured in step S13 and a preset threshold value (step S14). More specifically, the remote control side control unit 11 performs a comparison operation between the measured radio wave intensity and the threshold value, and the position of the remote control device 3 is transmitted from the radio wave transmission unit 9 based on the comparison result. It is determined whether or not the position detection signal is in the vicinity of an area where radio waves do not reach. That is, the greater the distance between the television receiver 2 and the remote control device 3, the smaller the intensity of radio waves transmitted from the television receiver 2 (more specifically, the radio wave transmission unit 9 of the television receiver 2). The range in which the radio waves transmitted from the receiver 2 can be received by the remote control device 3 is, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, where the distance between the television receiver 2 and the remote control device 3 is within about 13.5 m. Therefore, as a result of the comparison calculation, if the intensity of the received radio wave is smaller than a threshold value such that the distance between the television receiver 2 and the remote control device 3 is 12 m, the remote control side control unit 11 transmits from the radio wave transmission unit 9. It is determined that the remote control device 3 is in the vicinity of the region where the radio wave of the position detection signal to be transmitted does not reach. On the other hand, as a result of the comparison calculation, if the intensity of the received radio wave is equal to or greater than a threshold value such that the distance between the television receiver 2 and the remote control device 3 is 12 m, the remote control side control unit 11 transmits from the radio wave transmission unit 9. It is determined that there is no remote control device 3 in the vicinity of the region where the position detection signal radio wave does not reach, and the remote control device 3 is in the region where the position detection signal radio wave transmitted from the radio wave transmission unit 9 is easy to reach. Note that the threshold value used for the comparison calculation is a value measured in advance to determine the distance between the television receiver 2 and the remote control device 3, and is, for example, in a memory built in a microcomputer that is the remote control side control unit 11. Stored in advance.

  If the intensity of the radio wave is smaller than the threshold value as a result of the comparison calculation in step S14, the remote controller-side control unit 11 provides notification to prevent the radio wave reception unit 13 from receiving the radio wave of the position detection signal. A control signal for controlling the unit 14 is output to the notification unit 14, and the notification unit 14 notifies the user of the position of the remote control device 3 (step S15). Therefore, the remote controller 11 controls the position of the remote control device 3 at a position where the communication between the television receiver 2 and the remote control device 3 may be difficult (that is, the radio wave of the position detection signal by the radio wave receiver 13). If it is a position that may be difficult to receive), the notification unit 14 is controlled to notify the position of the remote control device 3. On the other hand, if the intensity of the radio wave is equal to or greater than the threshold value as a result of the comparison operation in step S14, the position of the remote control device 3 is not notified.

According to the television receiver 1 of the above embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) Since the radio wave transmission unit 9 of the television receiver 2 transmits a radio wave for monitoring to the remote control device 3 at regular intervals without always transmitting a radio wave, the remote control device 3 periodically transmits a radio wave. And the intensity of the radio wave is measured. Accordingly, since the radio wave transmission unit 9 does not always transmit radio waves, the power consumption of the television receiver 2 can be reduced compared to a configuration in which radio waves are always transmitted, and the remote control device 3 always receives radio waves. Therefore, the power consumption of the remote control device 3 can be reduced. In addition, since the radio wave transmission unit 9 transmits radio waves at regular intervals, the radio wave transmission unit 9 transmits a radio wave when the operation unit 8a provided in the television receiver 2 is operated. Depending on the distance between the receiver 2 and the remote control device 3, the position of the remote control device 3 can be reported reliably so that communication between the television receiver 2 and the remote control device 3 does not become difficult.

  (2) The radio wave transmission unit 9 transmits a position detection signal generated by the main body side control unit 8 for detecting the position of the remote control device 3 as a radio wave, and the notification unit 14 is received by the radio wave reception unit 13. When the radio wave is a position detection signal, the position of the remote control device 3 is notified. For this reason, when the remote control device 3 is lost, the position of the lost remote control device 3 can be notified by transmitting a position detection signal as a radio wave by the radio wave transmission unit 9. Moreover, since the radio wave for monitoring and the radio wave of the position detection signal transmitted periodically are transmitted by the same radio wave transmission unit 9, the configuration of the television receiver 2 for transmitting the radio wave is simplified. be able to.

  (3) The remote control side control unit 11 compares the intensity of the monitoring radio wave with a preset threshold value. When the radio wave intensity is smaller than the threshold value, the radio wave reception unit 13 receives the radio wave of the position detection signal. In order to prevent the reception from becoming impossible, the notification unit 14 is controlled to notify the position of the remote control device 3. For this reason, the remote control device 3 is prevented from receiving the radio wave of the position detection signal transmitted from the television receiver 2, and when the remote control device 3 is lost, the radio wave transmission unit 9 transmits the position detection signal to the radio wave. Can be reliably notified of the position of the remote control device 3 that has been lost.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, A various design change is possible based on the meaning of this invention, and they are not excluded from the scope of the present invention. For example, you may change the said embodiment as follows.

  In the above embodiment, the remote controller 11 controls the remote controller 3 to prevent the radio receiver 13 from receiving the radio wave of the position detection signal when the radio wave intensity is smaller than the threshold. Although the notification unit 14 is controlled to notify the position, it is not necessary to configure in this way. That is, the notification unit 14 may be controlled to notify the position of the remote control device 3 in order to prevent the remote control signal receiving unit 7 from receiving the remote control signal. Even in this case, the effects (1) and (2) can be obtained.

  In the above embodiment, the television receiver 1 has a locator function, but may be a television receiver 1 that does not have a locator function. Even when the locator function is not provided, the effect (1) can be obtained.

  -In above-mentioned embodiment, although the alerting | reporting part 14 was a small speaker, the alerting | reporting part 14 may emit not only what generate | occur | produces an audio | voice, but what may vibrate, and a remote control apparatus. Any device that notifies the user of the position of 3 may be used.

  In the above embodiment, the radio wave whose intensity is measured by the radio field intensity measurement unit 15 is a monitoring signal, but any radio wave that is transmitted by the radio wave transmission unit 9 at regular intervals is used. It may be.

The block diagram which shows the television receiver which is an electronic device which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The flowchart for demonstrating the operation | movement at the time of searching for the location of a remote control device. The flowchart for demonstrating operation | movement at the time of operating a alerting | reporting part based on the distance of an electronic device main body and a remote control device. The graph for demonstrating the intensity | strength of the electromagnetic wave transmitted from the electronic device main body which changes according to the distance of an electronic device main body and a remote control device.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Television receiver (electronic device), 2 ... Television receiver (electronic device main body), 3 ... Remote control device, 7 ... Remote control signal receiving part, 8 ... Main body side control part (position detection signal generation part), 8a ... Operation , 9 ... Radio wave transmission unit, 11 ... Remote control side control unit, 12 ... Remote control signal transmission unit, 13 ... Radio wave reception unit, 14 ... Notification unit, 15 ... Radio wave intensity measurement unit.

Claims (3)

An electronic device body, and a remote control device that transmits a remote control signal for remotely operating the electronic device body,
The electronic device main body includes a remote control signal receiving unit that receives the remote control signal, and a radio wave transmission unit that transmits radio waves to the remote control device,
The remote control device includes a remote control signal transmission unit that transmits the remote control signal, a radio wave reception unit that receives a radio wave transmitted by the radio wave transmission unit, and a radio wave intensity that measures the intensity of the radio wave received by the radio wave reception unit A measurement unit, and a notification unit for reporting the position of the remote control device based on the radio wave intensity measured by the radio wave intensity measurement unit,
The electronic device, wherein the radio wave transmission unit transmits a radio wave to the remote control device at regular intervals. The electronic device main body further includes a position detection signal generation unit that generates a position detection signal for detecting the position of the remote control device, and the radio wave transmission unit further includes a position generated by the position detection signal generation unit. Send detection signal as radio wave,
The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the notification unit notifies the position of the remote control device when the radio wave received by the radio wave reception unit is a position detection signal.   The remote control device compares the radio wave intensity measured by the radio wave intensity measurement unit with a preset threshold value, and when the radio wave intensity measured by the radio wave intensity measurement unit is smaller than the threshold value, The remote control unit for controlling the notification unit to notify the position of the remote control device in order to prevent the radio wave reception unit from receiving the radio wave of the position detection signal. 2. The electronic device according to 2.

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