JP2011077734A - Transmitter for infrared communication, portable terminal using the same, and infrared communication method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a transmitter for infrared communication capable of sufficiently securing security while making reducing power consumption. <P>SOLUTION: The transmitter for infrared communication includes first and second infrared transmission parts 1 and 2 whose directivity and transmission outputs are different from each other, and a control part 4 for controlling the changeover of the infrared transmission parts 1 and 2 corresponding to the security of data to be transmitted. At the time of security transmission, as compared to the time of normal transmission, since the directivity is narrowed, then an output is suppressed and short distance transmission is performed, transmission data are made to communicate without being monitored. Also, for the time of the security transmission, since the output is suppressed and the short distance transmission is performed, the power consumption during transmission is reduced. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an infrared communication transmitter, a portable terminal using the same, and an infrared communication method, and more particularly to an improvement of a wireless communication transmitter in a portable terminal with an infrared communication function.

  In recent years, data communication by IrDA (Infrared Data Association) is installed in many mobile phones and small game machines, and is widely used as an inexpensive and high-speed communication method (see Patent Documents 1 and 2).

  The data communication by IrDA is communication within a range of about 30 ° from the infrared transmission / reception module, and the communicable distance is 20 to 100 cm, which is communication in a very short distance. It is ideal for services that require safety, such as telephone number transmission, where it is difficult to intercept personal information from a remote location.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-252017 JP 2007-158436 A

  However, handling of more important data such as credit settlement requires that the communication area is narrowed by narrowing the communication range and the communication distance to prevent the important data from being intercepted.

  That is, as described above, data communication by IrDA is a communication within a range of about 30 ° from the infrared transmission / reception module and a distance of 20 to 100 cm. Therefore, there is a possibility of sending data to a large number of recipients. Therefore, there is a problem that security cannot be secured.

  Further, since transmission is always performed with the same output, there is a problem that even when output such as short-distance transmission does not require so much, power is consumed in the same way as during long-distance transmission. In recent mobile phones, power consumption is increasing due to an increase in functions. For this reason, in devices with limited power supply, power saving of each module is required.

  Here, referring to Patent Document 1, in a portable terminal with an infrared wireless function, a reception level from a communication partner is detected, and light emitting elements having different transmission outputs are used by switching according to the detected reception level. Thus, a technology that enables low power consumption is disclosed.

  Patent Document 2 also discloses a technique for switching and using wireless output circuits having different transmission outputs according to user operations in order to prevent battery consumption associated with short-range wireless communication in a portable terminal. Yes.

  However, in the techniques of Patent Documents 1 and 2 described above, both transmission units having different transmission outputs are used by appropriately switching them. Therefore, although low power consumption is possible, in terms of security. Nothing is taken into account.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an infrared communication transmitter capable of reducing power consumption while sufficiently ensuring security, a portable terminal using the same, and an infrared communication method.

  According to the present invention, it includes first and second infrared transmission means having different directivities and transmission outputs, and a control means for performing switching control according to the security of data to be transmitted by the infrared transmission means. Thus, an infrared communication transmission device can be obtained.

  According to the present invention, a portable terminal having the above-described infrared communication transmitter is obtained.

  According to the present invention, there is provided an infrared communication method including a step of switching between first and second infrared transmission means having different directivities and transmission outputs according to security of data to be transmitted. It is done.

  According to the present invention, a plurality of transmission units having different directivities and output characteristics are provided, and these are switched and used in accordance with security, so that sufficient security can be achieved while enabling low power consumption. There is an effect that it can be secured.

It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating the principle of this invention. It is a figure which shows one embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of one embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows other embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating operation | movement of other embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of other embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of further another embodiment of this invention.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1A and 1B are schematic diagrams for explaining the principle of the present invention. FIG. 1A is an explanatory diagram in the case of normal transmission (when security is not important), and FIG. FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, two sets (indicated by 1 and 2) of light emitting units for infrared transmission are provided. The light emitting unit 1 is a light emitting unit for normal transmission, and the light emitting unit 2 is a light emitting unit for security transmission. It is. Reference numeral 3 denotes a receiving unit.

  In normal transmission by the light emitting unit 1 for normal transmission, the communication distance is 100 cm, and the directivity is within the range of a cone of 30 ° with respect to the optical axis that is the central axis of light, in the same way as the characteristics of IrDA general IrDA products. Send data.

  In the security transmission by the security transmission light emitting unit 2, data is transmitted by limiting the communication distance and directivity to a range narrower than the normal transmission. Here, as an example, the transmission distance is 20 cm, and the directivity is transmitted within a cone of 10 ° with respect to the optical axis. The directivity in this case can be easily realized by using the shielding plate 21 or the like. As a result, compared to the normal transmission, at the time of security transmission, transmission is performed closer to the receiving device of the opposite device (not shown), thereby preventing the interception of communication.

  In this way, by using an optical transmission / reception module that can switch optical characteristics, normal transmission is performed in the case of communication that does not require security, and a receiver such as an ATM (Automatic Tail Machine) is fixed and security is ensured. If necessary, it is possible to prevent unauthorized interception of communication by switching to security transmission and using it.

  Referring to FIG. 2, the normal transmission light emitting unit 1 is a light emitting unit having general directivity conforming to the IrDA DATA1.1 standard. On the other hand, the security transmission light emitting unit 2 is a light emitting unit called a low power option based on the IrDA DATA1.3 standard. This low power option is a standard with reduced power consumption for small portable devices, and the communication distance is 0.2 m.

  The light receiving unit 3 receives infrared rays emitted from the light emitting unit of the opposite device. The control unit 4 controls the switching of the light emitting unit when a light emitting unit switching command is sent from the user. The amplifying unit 5 amplifies the electric signal converted by the light receiving unit 3. The changeover switch 6 is a switch for switching a light emitting unit to which a drive current is to be sent, and is switched by a control signal from the control unit 4. Hereinafter, these are collectively referred to as modules.

  Specifically, the normal transmission light emitting unit 1 uses an LED (light emitting diode) compliant with the IrDA DATA 1.1 standard. The light emitting unit 1 supplied with the voltage emits light. The security transmission light emitting unit 2 uses an LED conforming to the IrDA DATA 1.3 standard, and further has a directivity narrowed by a shielding plate 21 or the like. By properly using these two types of light emitting units, the communication distance and directivity are switched.

  Hereinafter, the operation when infrared communication is performed with such a module will be described. FIG. 3 shows a flowchart for switching. Before transmission, the user selects whether or not to place importance on security according to the situation at the time of transmission. If security is important (Yes in step S1), the control unit 4 switches the switch 6 so that a current is supplied only to the security transmission unit, and causes the security transmission light emitting unit 2 to emit light to perform security transmission (step). S2). If security is not important (No in step S1), only the normal transmission light emitting unit 1 is controlled to emit light and perform normal transmission (step S3).

  The determination of the presence or absence of “emphasis on security” in step S1 in FIG. 3 is basically made by the user's intention, but in order to reflect the user's intention, the operation unit of the portable terminal is used. It is obvious that this can be realized by instructing this “security priority” by key operation and detecting this key operation by the control unit 4.

  In the security transmission, the security transmission light emitting unit 2 needs to be adjusted so that the supplied power is transmitted within a communication distance of 20 cm and the directivity within a cone of 10 ° with respect to the optical axis. As described above, the control unit 4 performs switching of the light emitting unit and control of communication in response to a key operation by the user.

  In this way, during security transmission, the directivity is narrowed compared to that during normal transmission, and the output is suppressed to achieve short-distance transmission, so that transmission data can be communicated without being intercepted. In addition, during security transmission, since the output is suppressed and short-distance transmission is performed, power consumption during transmission can be reduced.

  Furthermore, by making it possible to switch between normal transmission and security transmission, when both of them are shaking with a mobile phone, the receiver is fixed during normal transmission, credit settlement, etc., and there is less concern about camera shake Sometimes it can be used separately from security transmission.

  As another embodiment of the present invention, the basic configuration is the same as that of the previous embodiment, but further improvement of security is devised, and the configuration is shown in FIG. Referring to FIG. 4, the detection unit 7 is provided at the output stage of the amplification unit 5, and the detection result by the detection unit 7 is supplied to the control unit 4. Other configurations are the same as the example of FIG.

  The detection unit 7 detects the received light level of infrared rays from the opposite device at the start of communication. When the transmission unit of the opposite device is near this module, the light reception level is high. In this case, the control unit 4 can select security transmission and suppress current consumption. On the other hand, when the opposite device is far away and the reception level is low, normal transmission is performed.

  Hereinafter, the operation when the light emitting units 1 and 2 are switched according to the light receiving level from the detecting unit 7 will be described. In the future, when the opposite device is near and the received light level is high, it is called H (high) level, and conversely, when the opposite device is far away and the voltage level is low, it is called L (low) level.

  As the light receiving unit 3, for example, an element having a photoelectric effect such as a photodiode can be used. A voltage is generated in the light receiving unit 3 that has received light by the action of the photoelectric effect. This voltage is amplified by the amplification unit 5 and transmitted to the detection unit 7. The detection unit 7 monitors the voltage received from the amplification unit 5. This monitoring only needs to detect a binary value indicating whether the voltage is at the H level or the L level.

  When the voltage does not reach the H level, all are controlled as the L level. Then, the control unit 4 receives light reception level information from the detection unit 7 and generates a control signal for switching the changeover switch 6 so that security transmission is performed when the level is H and normal transmission is performed when the level is L.

  FIG. 5 schematically shows an example of a transmission method based on the positional relationship between the opposite device 10 and the present module, where (A) is a case of normal transmission and (B) is a case of security transmission. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation at the time of switching of the transmission unit in the case of a sag.

  As shown in FIG. 6, when transmission is started (step S11), the detection unit 7 detects the level of the received signal from the opposite device (step S12). If the reception level at this time exceeds a predetermined threshold (Yes in step S13), it is determined that the communication is closer than the normal transmission and should be the security transmission. In response to this, in the control unit 4, the changeover switch 6 is switched, the security transmission unit 2 is selected and a drive current is supplied, and thus security transmission is performed (step S14).

  If the reception level is equal to or lower than a predetermined threshold value in step S13 (No in step S13), the control unit 4 switches the changeover switch 6 so that the normal transmission unit 1 is selected (step S15). ).

  Further, as another method for improving security, it is conceivable to request a password for personal authentication when transmitting data. Although conventional IrDA transmission has the advantage that it is easy to operate and can be transmitted to anyone, there is a possibility that important data such as credit card payments may be misused by losing a portable terminal capable of IrDA communication. It was. Therefore, the user is requested to input a password in order to improve security.

  The detailed procedure in this case is shown in the flowchart of FIG. First, the user registers data that places importance on safety in a storage unit or the like in the portable terminal in advance. When registering or canceling registration, you will be asked to enter a password. Thereafter, every time this registered data is transmitted, the password is required to be input, and transmission is possible only when the correct password is input. This method can prevent data from being misused when lost.

  Referring to FIG. 7, when transmitting data already registered to the mobile terminal (step S21), the user is required to input a password (step S22). If the password entered by the user is correct (Yes in step S23), transmission is started (step S24), otherwise (No in step S23), transmission is disabled (step S25), and waiting for input of the correct password It becomes.

  In this case, since security is emphasized, it is preferable that the control unit 4 controls the transmission in step S24 so that it is a security transmission.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Light-emitting part for normal transmission 2 Light-emitting part for security transmission 3 Light-receiving part 4 Control part 5 Amplifying part 6 Changeover switch 7 Detection part 10 Opposite machine

Claims (9)

  Infrared communication comprising: first and second infrared transmission means having different directivities and transmission outputs; and control means for switching and controlling the infrared transmission means in accordance with security of data to be transmitted. Transmitter.   The second infrared transmission means has a characteristic that the directivity of the first infrared transmission means is narrower than that of the first infrared transmission means, and the transmission output is low. 2. The infrared communication transmitter according to claim 1, wherein two infrared transmitters are used.   2. The infrared communication transmission device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit switches and controls the infrared transmission unit in accordance with a reception level from the opposite device.   2. The infrared communication transmission device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit performs personal authentication and controls use of the second infrared transmission unit according to the authentication result.   A portable terminal comprising the infrared communication transmission device according to claim 1.   An infrared communication method comprising a step of switching between first and second infrared transmission means having different directivities and transmission outputs according to security of data to be transmitted. The second infrared transmission means has a characteristic that is narrower than the directivity of the first infrared transmission means and has a low transmission output,
7. The infrared communication method according to claim 6, wherein said step uses said second infrared transmission means when security is more required.   The infrared communication method according to claim 6, wherein in the step, the infrared transmission unit is switched according to a reception level from the opposite device.   The infrared communication method according to claim 6, wherein the step includes a step of performing personal authentication and a step of controlling use of the second infrared transmission unit according to the authentication result.

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