JP2011135251A - Portable terminal device and information notification method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To have a portable terminal device notify that it lies within the area of an access point, while suppressing power consumption. <P>SOLUTION: The portable terminal device includes a locating means for locating a connectable access point; an attribute information storage means for storing attribute information; an attribute information acquiring means for obtaining attribute to the access point located by the locating means, acquiring profile information of the access point, and storing the profile information in an attribute information storage means; and a control means for releasing the attribute to the access point, when the profile information is acquired by the attribute information acquiring means, so as to display attribute possible information on a display means, obtaining attribute to the access point at prescribed time interval, based on the profile information stored in the attribute information storage means, and allowing the display means to continue to display the attribute possible information during a period where reconnection is possible with respect to the access point, and then deleting the attribute possible information displayed by the display means at the point of time, when attribute to the access point is no longer able to attain. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a mobile terminal device and an information notification method capable of notifying a mobile terminal device such as a mobile phone that the access point is in a coverage area while suppressing power consumption.

  When using a wireless local area network (LAN) to connect a mobile terminal device to a network for information communication, the timing at which the mobile terminal device is attributed to an access point (AP) uses a wireless LAN function. If the access point is scanned when desired, the power consumption of the portable terminal device can be suppressed. However, there may be no access point to which the user can belong even when the access point is scanned. In order to improve convenience, instead of scanning the access point manually by the user to check if it can be attributed, it always scans whether it is in the area, and entered the area Convenience can be secured by making it belong to the case.

  A wireless communication system is known in which only terminals that are permitted to use a base station can communicate using the base station (see, for example, Patent Document 1). When a terminal of this system enters a cell of a personal base station arranged in a certain location area, it receives a location area identifier having a number different from that of the location area, and updates the location in response to this. When the request is transmitted, it is determined whether or not the terminal that is the source of the location update request is a terminal that is permitted to use this personal base station by referring to the registration table, and corresponds to the terminal that is permitted to use. In some cases, the terminal is allowed to communicate in the cell; otherwise, the terminal is not allowed to communicate in the cell.

JP 2009-0777429 A

  By the way, when entering the area where the wireless LAN function is not actually used even if it always belongs to the access point, the power consumed in the portable terminal device during the belonging process Is wasteful power consumption, and there is a problem that the power supply time from the battery mounted on the portable terminal device is shortened.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and provides a mobile terminal device and an information notification method capable of notifying that the mobile terminal device is in the area where the access point is located while suppressing power consumption. The purpose is to do.

  The present invention provides a search means for searching for a connectable access point, a display means for displaying information, an attribution information storage means for storing attribution information necessary for belonging to the access point, and a search means When the profile information of the access point is acquired by the attribute information acquisition unit storing the profile information in the attribute information storage unit, and the profile information can be acquired by the attribute information acquisition unit. After the attribution to the access point is canceled, the attribution means information is displayed on the display means, and attributed to the access point at a predetermined time interval based on the profile information stored in the attribution information storage means. While the reconnection to the access point is possible, the display means It continues to display the attributable information, when it becomes impossible to belong to the access point, characterized in that a control means for erasing the attributable information displayed on the display means.

  The present invention relates to a portable terminal device comprising: search means for searching for connectable access points; display means for displaying information; and attribution information storage means for storing attribution information necessary for attribution to the access points. An information notification method, belonging to an access point found by the search means, obtaining profile information of the access point, and storing the profile information in the belonging information storage means; When the profile information can be acquired by the information acquisition step, after the attribution to the access point is canceled, attribution information is displayed on the display means, and based on the profile information stored in the attribution information storage means , Belonging to the access point at a predetermined time interval, While reconnecting to the access point is possible, the attribution means continues to be displayed on the display means, and the attribution information displayed on the display means when the attribution can no longer be attributed to the access point And a control step for erasing.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the frequency of execution of the processing operation for searching for an access point, so that the effect that the power consumption of the mobile terminal device can be suppressed is obtained.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the portable terminal 1 shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of a display of the display part 13 shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of a display of the display part 13 shown in FIG.

  Hereinafter, a portable terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the embodiment. In this figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a mobile terminal device such as a mobile phone. Reference numeral 2 denotes an access point (AP) using a wireless LAN for connecting the mobile terminal device 1 to the network 3. Reference numeral 11 denotes a control unit that performs overall control of processing operations of the mobile terminal device 1. Reference numeral 12 denotes an input unit composed of dial keys, function keys, and the like. Reference numeral 13 denotes a display unit configured by a display device. Reference numeral 14 denotes a wireless communication unit that establishes a wireless communication line with the access point 2 and performs information communication using the wireless LAN function. Reference numeral 15 denotes a scan execution unit that searches the access point 2 while switching the use frequency of the wireless communication unit 14 and specifies the frequency to be used. Reference numeral 16 denotes an attribution information storage unit that stores profile information of connectable access points identified by the scan execution unit 15.

  When the configuration of the mobile terminal device is described with reference to FIG. 1, the well-known functions and configurations that the mobile terminal device normally has are described and illustrated in the configuration unless directly related to the description of the present invention. Is omitted.

  Next, the operation of the mobile terminal 1 shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG. First, the control unit 11 instructs the scan execution unit 15 to search for an access point. In response to this, the scan execution unit 15 scans and searches for an access point (step S1). If the access point is not found despite the predetermined number of scan processing operations, the control unit 11 displays a message indicating that connection is impossible on the display unit 13 and ends the process. The control unit 11 determines whether an access point has been found as a result of scanning (step S2). If it is determined that an access point has been found as a result of this determination, the control unit 11 performs attribution processing via the wireless communication unit 14 for the found access point (in this case, the access point 2) (step S3). .

  Next, after belonging, the control unit 11 acquires profile information of the access point 2 that can be connected and registers it in the belonging information storage unit 16 (step S4). Then, the control unit 11 cancels the belonging to the belonging access point (in this case, the access point 2) via the wireless communication unit 14 (step S5), and displays the belonging information on the display unit 13. (Step S6). The attributeable information here is information for informing the user of the mobile terminal 1 that the attribute can be attributed (the area is in the area). For example, the attribute can be attributed as shown in FIG. Is displayed on the display unit 13. As shown in FIG. 4, as the attribution information, a pop-up window 132 may be displayed on the display unit 13 as a message indicating that attribution is possible.

  Next, the control unit 11 returns to this access point based on the profile information of the access point (here, the access point 2) stored in the belonging information storage unit 16 after a predetermined rescan time interval. Attribution processing is performed (step S7). The rescan time interval here is a time interval from the time when the attribution is canceled to the time when the attribution is reassigned to the access point specified by the profile information stored in the attribution information storage unit 16. By increasing this time interval, the number of times of scanning and searching for a new access point can be reduced, and the power consumption of the mobile terminal device 1 can be suppressed.

  Next, the control unit 11 determines whether reconnection to the access point is possible as a result of the attribution process (step S8). If the result of this determination is that reconnection is possible, the processing returns to step S5, the attribution is canceled, and the attribution operation is repeated after the rescan time interval.

  On the other hand, if reconnection to the access point is not possible, the control unit 11 determines whether or not a predetermined number of retries (for example, 5 times) has been exceeded. Is performed again (step S9). As a result, when the number of retries is exceeded, the rescan time interval is large (for example, 5 minutes), and when the mobile terminal device 1 is moved to another place, the rescan time interval is reached (for example, 5 minutes). Since it is the profile information of the access point at the previous location, there is a possibility that connection to the access point 2 cannot be made even if the attribution process to the access point is performed. In such a case, it is assumed that the mobile terminal device 1 has moved and moved away from the area where the access point 2 can be connected immediately before, and the attribution information displayed on the display unit 13 is erased from the screen (step). S10).

  If the icon of the attributeable information is displayed on the display unit 13, the user does not need to search for an access point before executing an application using a wireless LAN. In addition, when the icon of attributeable information is not displayed on the display unit 13, an application using a wireless LAN may be executed after searching for an access point.

  As described above, since the user is informed that the user has entered the area after being attributed with an icon or the like and the attribution itself is canceled, it is not always necessary to perform attribution processing, and the mobile terminal device 1 operates. It is possible to suppress the battery power consumption required for the operation. Only when the user wants to use the wireless LAN function, the user knows in advance that there is a possibility that it can be attributed with an icon, etc. You can save time. Moreover, since the number of portable terminal devices that only belong to the access point (only belong to the access point without using the network) can be reduced, the processing load on the access point can be reduced.

  Also, in the mobile terminal device, after using the network using the wireless LAN function, the frequency of using other functions of the mobile terminal device to use the wireless LAN function without moving from the area where the access point is located. This is particularly effective when the value is high.

  1 is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, and the program recorded on the recording medium is read into a computer system and executed to execute information notification processing. You may go. Here, the “computer system” includes an OS and hardware such as peripheral devices. The “computer-readable recording medium” refers to a portable medium such as a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, a ROM, and a CD-ROM, and a storage device such as a hard disk built in the computer system. Further, the “computer-readable recording medium” refers to a volatile memory (RAM) in a computer system that becomes a server or a client when a program is transmitted via a network such as the Internet or a communication line such as a telephone line. In addition, those holding programs for a certain period of time are also included.

  The program may be transmitted from a computer system storing the program in a storage device or the like to another computer system via a transmission medium or by a transmission wave in the transmission medium. Here, the “transmission medium” for transmitting the program refers to a medium having a function of transmitting information, such as a network (communication network) such as the Internet or a communication line (communication line) such as a telephone line. The program may be for realizing a part of the functions described above. Furthermore, what can implement | achieve the function mentioned above in combination with the program already recorded on the computer system, what is called a difference file (difference program) may be sufficient.

  The present invention can be applied to applications where it is essential to connect a mobile terminal device to a network using a wireless LAN.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Portable terminal device, 11 ... Control part, 12 ... Input part, 13 ... Display part, 14 ... Wireless communication part, 15 ... Scan execution part, 2 ... Access Point (AP), 3 ... Network

Claims (2)

Search means for searching for connectable access points;
Display means for displaying information;
Attribution information storage means for storing attribution information necessary to attribute to the access point;
Attributing to the access point found by the searching means, obtaining the access point profile information, and storing the profile information in the belonging information storage means,
When the profile information can be acquired by the attribution information acquisition means, after the attribution to the access point is canceled, attribution information is displayed on the display means, and the profile information stored in the attribution information storage means Based on the above, while belonging to the access point at a predetermined time interval and being able to reconnect to the access point, it is possible to continue to display the belonging information on the display means and to belong to the access point. And a control means for erasing the attribution information displayed on the display means at the time of disappearance. An information notification method in a portable terminal device comprising: search means for searching for connectable access points; display means for displaying information; and attribution information storage means for storing attribution information necessary for attribution to the access points. There,
Attributing to the access point found by the search means, obtaining the access point profile information, and storing the profile information in the belonging information storage means,
When the profile information can be acquired by the attribution information acquisition step, after the attribution to the access point is canceled, the attribution information is displayed on the display means, and the profile information stored in the attribution information storage means Based on the above, while belonging to the access point at a predetermined time interval and being able to reconnect to the access point, it is possible to continue to display the belonging information on the display means and to belong to the access point. And a control step of erasing the attributeable information displayed on the display means when the information disappears.

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