JP2012070027A - Portable terminal, antenna control method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable maintainance of favorable communication without increasing the number of antennas on a portable terminal having many functions, such as portable wireless communication, television reception, positioning, and short-range wireless communication functions.SOLUTION: A plurality of antennas 11a-11d and a plurality of wireless parts 13a-13d are provided for respective communication methods, such as portable wireless communication function, television receiving function, positioning function, and short-range wireless communication function. An electric field intensity detector 15 detects the reception intensity of each antenna. An optimum antenna deciding part 21 selects an optimum antenna depending on the detected reception intensity of each antenna. An antenna switching part 12 switches connections between the antennas 11a-11d and the wireless parts 13a-13d, based on the antenna selected. Thereby, even when the communication condition with an antenna corresponding to a communication method is poor, good communication can be maintained by using the antenna corresponding to another communication method and having a similar resonance frequency.

Description

  The present invention relates to a portable terminal having a plurality of functions such as a television reception function, a positioning function, and a short-range wireless communication function in addition to a portable wireless communication function, an antenna control method for the portable terminal, and an antenna control program for the portable terminal. .

  In recent years, a built-in antenna has been increasingly used as an antenna of a mobile terminal due to demands for improvement in design, size reduction, and weight reduction. However, when the built-in antenna is used, when the user touches the casing portion at the position of the built-in antenna of the mobile terminal, the antenna efficiency may be deteriorated and optimal communication may not be performed.

  Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 describe a technique related to diversity in which a mobile terminal is provided with a plurality of antennas and a good antenna is selected from the plurality of antennas.

JP 2002-261665 A JP 2009-124255 A

  As described above, in the case of the built-in antenna, there is a possibility that the antenna efficiency deteriorates due to the user touching the housing part at the position of the built-in antenna of the mobile terminal, and the optimum communication cannot be performed. There is. On the other hand, in Patent Document 1, two internal antennas for transmission / reception are provided in a casing of a mobile terminal, and antenna diversity is constituted by these two internal antennas for transmission / reception. For this reason, even if the user touches the housing portion of one built-in antenna of the mobile terminal, good communication can be maintained using the other built-in antenna. However, the configuration of Patent Document 1 requires a diversity antenna for portable wireless communication, which increases the number of antennas.

  Moreover, recent portable terminals have not only a portable wireless communication function but also a one-segment television broadcast television reception function, a positioning function by GPS (Global Positioning System), a short-range wireless communication function by Bluetooth (registered trademark), and the like. The function is provided. In order to realize such a large number of functions, in addition to an antenna for portable wireless communication, a portable terminal includes an antenna for receiving one-segment television broadcasts, an antenna for GPS positioning, and Bluetooth (registered trademark). There is a need to provide a large number of antennas such as antennas for distance wireless communication.

  In Patent Document 2, a common sub-antenna is provided for a plurality of main antennas for each function so that the number of antennas does not increase even if the antenna has a diversity configuration in a portable terminal having a large number of functions. It describes what constitutes diversity. In this case, the number of antennas can be reduced as compared with a configuration in which an antenna for diversity is provided for each antenna of each function. However, even in such a configuration, it is necessary to provide sub-antennas that constitute diversity in common for a plurality of main antennas for each function, and the number of antennas increases accordingly.

  In view of the above-described problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a portable terminal that uses a large number of communication schemes and can maintain good communication without increasing the number of antennas, an antenna control method for the portable terminal, An object is to provide an antenna control program for a portable terminal.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and is a portable terminal that performs communication using a plurality of different communication schemes, and has a plurality of antennas having lengths corresponding to the frequency of a signal used for each communication scheme. A plurality of wireless means provided for each communication method, a field strength detection means for detecting the reception strength of each of the plurality of antennas, and a reception strength of each antenna detected by the field strength detection means. And an antenna switching means for switching connections between the plurality of antennas and the plurality of radio means based on the antenna determined by the optimum antenna determination means. It is characterized by providing.

  In addition, the present invention performs communication using a plurality of different communication methods, and includes a plurality of antennas having a length corresponding to the frequency of a signal used for each communication method, and a plurality of wireless means provided for each communication method. A method for controlling an antenna of a portable terminal, comprising: detecting a reception intensity of each of the plurality of antennas; determining an optimum antenna according to the detected reception intensity of each antenna; and And a step of switching connections between the plurality of antennas and the plurality of wireless means based on the antennas.

  In addition, the present invention performs communication using a plurality of different communication methods, and includes a plurality of antennas having a length corresponding to the frequency of a signal used for each communication method, and a plurality of wireless means provided for each communication method. A program to be executed by a computer of a portable terminal having: a step of detecting a reception intensity of each of the plurality of antennas; a step of determining an optimum antenna according to the reception intensity of each of the detected antennas; Switching the connection between the plurality of antennas and the plurality of wireless means based on the determined antenna.

  According to the present invention, when good communication cannot be performed with an antenna corresponding to each communication method, the antenna is switched to another antenna used for another communication method with the maximum electric field strength. As a result, even when the communication state with the antenna corresponding to the predetermined communication method is poor, it is possible to maintain good communication using the antenna of another communication method having a close resonance frequency. In the present invention, since a plurality of antennas corresponding to each communication method are used by switching, it is not necessary to add another antenna.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the portable terminal which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the antenna of the portable terminal which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the antenna switching process in the portable terminal which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the mobile terminal 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the mobile terminal 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes a plurality of antennas 11a to 11d, an antenna switching unit 12, a plurality of radio units 13a to 13d, a control unit 14, And an electric field intensity detector 15.

  The antennas 11a to 11d are provided for each communication method, and each has a length corresponding to the frequency of a signal used for each communication method. That is, the portable terminal 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes an antenna 11a used for a portable wireless communication function, an antenna 11b used for a television reception function, an antenna 11c used for a positioning function, and a short-range wireless communication function. And an antenna 11d used in the above. The portable wireless communication function performs voice communication and data communication using, for example, a 800 MHz band (830 to 885 MHz) and a WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) method. The television reception function uses a UHF (Ultra High Frequency) television broadcasting band (473 MHz to 767 MHz), and is a television broadcasting for a mobile terminal that is broadcast by one segment of digital terrestrial broadcasting (one-segment television broadcasting) Is received. The positioning function receives a 1.575 GHz signal from a plurality of GPS satellites orbiting the earth and measures the current location. The short-range wireless communication function performs wireless data communication with an external device by Bluetooth (registered trademark) using, for example, the 2.4 GHz band of the ISM (Industry Science Medical) band.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the antenna of the mobile terminal according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
As an antenna 11a for WCDMA portable wireless communication, for example, as shown in FIG. 2A, an 800 MHz band built in the vicinity of the hinge portion 3 between the casing 2a and the casing 2b of the portable terminal 1 is received. A built-in antenna (for example, a plate-like inverted F antenna or a microstrip antenna) is used.

  As the one-segment television broadcast receiving antenna 11b, for example, as shown in FIG. 2B, a UHF television formed by the entire casing 2a and 2b of the portable terminal 1 of the portable terminal 1 is used. A housing dipole antenna for receiving the John broadcasting band (473 MHz to 767 MHz) is used. The one-segment television broadcast receiving antenna 11b may be realized by a whip antenna provided outside the portable terminal 1.

  As the GPS positioning antenna 11c, for example, a built-in antenna for receiving a 1.5 GHz band (right rotation polarization) is used.

  As the antenna 11d for short-range wireless communication by Bluetooth (registered trademark), for example, a built-in antenna for receiving a 2.4 GHz band is used.

  The antenna switching unit 12 switches connections between the antennas 11 a to 11 d and the radio units 13 a to 13 d under the control of the optimum antenna determination unit 21 of the control unit 14.

  The radio units 13a to 13d are provided for each communication method. The wireless unit 13a is a wireless unit for mobile wireless communication using the WCDMA system. The wireless unit 13b is a wireless unit for receiving one-segment television broadcasting. The wireless unit 13c is a wireless unit for positioning by GPS. The wireless unit 13d is a wireless unit for short-range wireless communication using Bluetooth (registered trademark).

  The control unit 14 can be realized by a microprocessor, for example. A display unit 16 and an operation unit 17 are provided for the control unit 14. In the first embodiment of the present invention, the control unit 14 includes an optimum antenna determination unit 21 and a priority mode setting unit 22. A mode is set in the priority mode setting unit 22 by an operation from the operation unit 17.

  The electric field strength detector 15 detects the received electric field strength of each of the antennas 11a to 11d. The electric field strengths of the antennas 11 a to 11 d detected by the electric field strength detection unit 15 are sent to the optimum antenna determination unit 21 of the control unit 14.

  Thus, the mobile terminal 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention is provided with a plurality of antennas 11a to 11d and radio units 13a to 13d corresponding to each communication method. An antenna switching unit 12 is provided between the antennas 11a to 11d and the radio units 13a to 13d. The antenna switching unit 12 is switched according to the reception strength of each of the antennas 11 a to 11 d detected by the electric field strength detection unit 15 and the mode set in the priority mode setting unit 22.

  Examples of modes set in the priority mode setting unit 22 include a normal mode, a mobile communication priority mode, and a television reception priority mode.

  In the normal mode, the antenna switching unit 12 is set so that the antennas 11a to 11d and the radio units 13a to 13d are connected in correspondence with the communication method. That is, in the case of the normal mode, the optimum antenna determination unit 21 connects the WCDMA portable wireless communication antenna 11a and the WCDMA portable wireless communication wireless unit 13a regardless of the reception strength, The one-segment television broadcast receiving antenna 11b and the one-segment television broadcast receiving radio section 13b are connected, and the GPS satellite positioning antenna 11c and the GPS positioning radio section 13c are connected to each other for short-range wireless communication. The antenna 11d and the wireless unit 13d for short-range wireless communication are connected.

  In the case of the mobile communication priority mode, the optimum antenna determination unit 21 is connected to the wireless unit 13a for mobile wireless communication of the WCDMA system with the antenna having the maximum electric field strength among the antennas 11a to 11d. Next, the antenna is switched. At this time, when there is communication that competes with the portable wireless communication function, the optimum antenna determination unit 21 stops the operation of the competing communication so that the portable wireless communication function has priority.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 2A, when the antenna 11a for WCDMA portable wireless communication is built in the vicinity of the hinge portion 3 of the portable terminal 1, the user can use the hinge of the portable terminal 1 during a call. If the vicinity of the unit 3 is held, the antenna efficiency of the WCDMA portable wireless communication antenna 11a deteriorates, and optimal communication cannot be performed. If the mobile communication priority mode is set, in such a case, an optimum antenna is determined from the antennas 11a to 11d according to the received electric field strength of the antennas 11a to 11d in the electric field strength detector 15. Is done. Then, the antenna for the wireless unit 13a for WCDMA portable wireless communication is switched to the determined optimum antenna. The one-segment television broadcast receiving antenna 11b is a housing dipole antenna for receiving the UHF television broadcast band (473 MHz to 767 MHz) as shown in FIG. The resonance frequency of this antenna 11b is close to the frequency of 800 MHz used in the WCDMA system. For this reason, even when good communication cannot be performed with the antenna 11a, the antenna 11b may be able to transmit and receive WCDMA signals satisfactorily.

  When the mobile communication priority mode is set, the optimum antenna determination unit 21 determines that the electric field strength is the maximum among the antennas 11a to 11d based on the electric field strengths of the antennas 11a to 11d detected by the electric field strength detection unit 15. Is determined as the optimum antenna. For example, when the electric field strength of the one-segment television broadcast receiving antenna 11b is the highest among the antennas 11a to 11d, the optimum antenna determining unit 21 sets the one-segment television broadcast receiving antenna 11b as the optimum antenna. decide. Then, the optimum antenna determining unit 21 sets the antenna switching unit 12 so that the one-segment television broadcast receiving antenna 11b is connected to the WCDMA mobile wireless communication wireless unit 13a. As a result, even when the user is gripping the vicinity of the hinge portion 3 of the portable terminal 1 and the antenna efficiency of the antenna 11a for WCDMA portable wireless communication is deteriorated, it is for receiving one-segment television broadcasts. Good communication can be performed using the antenna 11b. At this time, communication competes between the WCDMA portable wireless communication and the television reception of the one-segment television broadcast. For this reason, in the mobile communication priority mode, the optimum antenna determination unit 21 stops the reception function of the television reception of the one-segment television broadcast that competes with the WCDMA portable wireless communication function.

  In the case of the television reception priority mode, the optimum antenna determination unit 21 is connected to the radio unit 13b for receiving the one-segment television broadcast so that the antenna having the maximum electric field strength among the antennas 11a to 11d is connected. Switch antennas. At this time, if there is a conflicting communication, the operation of the conflicting communication is stopped.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 2B, when the one-segment television broadcast receiving antenna 11b is a case dipole, when the cases 2a and 2b are closed, the cases 2a and 2b are opened. The antenna efficiency is significantly degraded compared to when it is. Therefore, when a television program is reserved and recorded, if the casings 2a and 2b are closed during the recording time, the television broadcast cannot be recorded satisfactorily. If the television reception priority mode is set, the optimum antenna is determined from among the antennas 11a to 11d in such a case, and the antenna for the radio unit 13b for receiving the one-segment television broadcast is determined. The best antenna can be switched. The resonant frequency of the antenna 11a in the 800 MHz band used in the WCDMA system shown in FIG. 2A is close to the frequency band (473 MHz to 767 MHz) of the one-segment television broadcast. For this reason, when the housings 2a and 2b are closed, the antenna 11a may be able to satisfactorily receive the one-segment television broadcast.

  If the television reception priority mode is set, the optimum antenna determination unit 21 determines that the electric field strength is the maximum among the antennas 11a to 11d based on the electric field strengths of the antennas 11a to 11d from the electric field strength detection unit 15. Is determined as the optimum antenna. For example, when the electric field strength of the WCDMA portable radio communication antenna 11a is the highest among the antennas 11a to 11d, the optimum antenna determining unit 21 selects the WCDMA portable wireless communication antenna 11a as the optimum. Determine as an antenna. Then, the optimum antenna determination unit 21 sets the antenna switching unit 12 so that the WCDMA mobile radio communication antenna 11a is connected to the one-segment television broadcast reception radio unit 13b. Thus, even when the casings 2a and 2b are closed at the recording reservation time and the one-segment television broadcast reception antenna 11b cannot receive the one-segment television broadcast satisfactorily, the WCDMA portable wireless communication antenna 11a is By using it, it is possible to satisfactorily receive one-segment television broadcasting. In this case, communication is competing between the reception of the one-segment television broadcast and the WCDMA portable wireless communication. For this reason, in the case of the television reception priority mode, the portable wireless communication function competing with the reception of the one-segment television broadcast is stopped.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an antenna switching process in the optimum antenna determination unit 21 of the control unit 14.

  In FIG. 3, the optimum antenna determination unit 21 determines whether or not the mode set in the priority mode setting unit 22 is the normal mode (step S1). When the normal mode is set, the optimum antenna determination unit 21 sets the antenna switching unit 12 so that the antennas 11a to 11d and the corresponding radio units 13a to 13d are connected ( Step S2).

  If it is determined in step S1 that the mode is not the normal mode, the optimum antenna determination unit 21 determines whether or not the mode set in the priority mode setting unit 22 is the mobile communication priority mode (step S3). If the mobile communication priority mode is set in step S3, the optimum antenna determination unit 21 sets the antennas so that the antennas 11a to 11d and the corresponding radio units 13a to 13d are connected. In the state (step S4), it is determined whether portable wireless communication has been started (step S5).

  If it is determined in step S5 that mobile wireless communication has been started, the optimum antenna determination unit 21 determines whether the communication state is good (step S6). If the communication state is good, the optimum antenna determination unit 21 performs mobile wireless communication as it is (step S7).

  If the communication state is not good in step S6, the optimum antenna determination unit 21 sequentially detects and stores the reception strengths of the antennas 11a to 11d from the detection values of the electric field strength detection unit 15 (step S8). Then, the optimum antenna determination unit 21 determines the antenna having the maximum reception intensity among the antennas 11a to 11d as the optimum antenna (step S9). Next, the optimum antenna determination unit 21 determines whether there is a communication conflict (step S10). If there is no communication conflict, the optimal antenna determination unit 21 stops the competing function if there is a communication conflict (step S11). ), Switching to the antenna determined in step S9. And the optimal antenna determination part 21 performs portable radio | wireless communication in the state which connected the optimal antenna determined by step S9 (step S7).

  If it is determined in step S3 that the mode is not the mobile communication priority mode, the optimum antenna determination unit 21 determines whether the mode set in the priority mode setting unit 22 is the television reception priority mode (step S13). When the television reception priority mode is set, the optimum antenna determination unit 21 sets the antennas so that the antennas 11a to 11d and the corresponding radio units 13a to 13d are connected to each other ( Step S14), it is determined whether or not the reception of the one-segment television broadcast has been started (step S15).

  If it is determined in step S15 that reception of the one-segment television broadcast has started, the optimum antenna determination unit 21 determines whether the communication state is good (step S16). If the communication state is good, the optimum antenna determination unit 21 receives the one-segment television broadcast as it is (step S17).

  If the communication state is not good in step S16, the optimum antenna determination unit 21 sequentially detects and stores the reception strengths of the antennas 11a to 11d from the detection values of the electric field strength detection unit 15 (step S18). Then, the optimum antenna determination unit 21 determines the antenna having the maximum reception intensity among the antennas 11a to 11d as the optimum antenna (step S19). Next, the optimum antenna determination unit 21 determines whether there is a communication conflict (step S20). If there is no communication conflict, the optimal antenna determination unit 21 stops the competing function if there is a communication conflict (step S21). ), Switching to the antenna determined in step S19 (step S22). Then, the optimal antenna determination unit 21 receives the one-segment television broadcast in a state where the optimal antenna determined in step S19 is connected (step S17).

  As described above, in the first embodiment of the present invention, when good communication cannot be performed with the antenna corresponding to each communication method, the antenna is switched to another antenna having the maximum electric field strength. For this reason, even when the communication state with an antenna corresponding to a predetermined communication method is poor, good communication can be maintained by using an antenna of another communication method with a close resonance frequency.

  In the above-described example, when the one-segment television broadcast receiving antenna 11b is used for the wireless unit 13a for mobile wireless communication of the WCDMA system, and when the one-segment television broadcast receiving wireless unit 13b is used, the WCDMA is used. The case of using the portable radio communication antenna 11a has been described, but in addition to this, the short-range wireless communication antenna 11d is used for the wireless unit 13a for portable wireless communication of the WCDMA system, or WCDMA. It is conceivable to use an antenna 11c for GPS positioning for the wireless unit 13a for portable radio communication of the system. That is, in the above-described example, the example in which WCDMA portable wireless communication is performed in the 800 MHz band has been described, but the 2 GHz band and the 1.7 GHz band may be used. When mobile radio communication uses a frequency band close to 2 GHz band, communication quality with better radio wave condition can be obtained by using 2.4 GHz band short-range radio communication antenna 11 d for WCDMA mobile radio communication. There is a possibility that can be secured. In addition, when using a frequency band close to 1.7 GHz for portable wireless communication, communication with better radio wave conditions can be achieved by using the GPS positioning antenna 11 c in the 1.5 GHz band for portable wireless communication of the WCDMA system. There is a possibility that quality can be secured.

  It is to be noted that an antenna 11d for short-range wireless communication is connected to the wireless unit 13a for WCDMA portable wireless communication, or an antenna 11c for GPS positioning is connected to the wireless unit 13a for WCDMA portable wireless communication. In the case of connection, there are few cases where wireless communication competes with each other.

  In the above example, mobile wireless communication is performed by the WCDMA system. However, the present invention is not limited to the PDC (Personal Digital Cellular) system, the GSM (Global Systems for Mobile communications) system, the CDMA system, the CDMA2000 system, and the like. The same applies to the method. In the above description, the mobile terminal 1 has a mobile wireless communication function, a television reception function, a positioning function, and a short-range wireless communication function, but has all these functions. It is not necessary and may have other functions. For example, IEEE. An 802.11b / g WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) communication function may be provided. The present invention can be applied not only to a normal mobile terminal for performing a mobile phone but also to a multifunctional mobile terminal called a smartphone, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), and the like.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and applications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

1: mobile terminals 11a to 11d: antenna 12: antenna switching units 13a to 13d: radio unit 14: control unit 15: electric field intensity detection unit 16: display unit 17: operation unit 21: optimum antenna determination unit 22: priority mode setting unit

Claims (4)

A mobile terminal that performs communication using a plurality of different communication methods,
A plurality of antennas having a length corresponding to the frequency of the signal used for each communication method;
A plurality of wireless means provided for each of the communication methods;
Electric field strength detection means for detecting the reception strength of each of the plurality of antennas;
Optimal antenna determination means for determining an optimal antenna according to the reception intensity of each antenna detected by the electric field strength detection means;
A portable terminal comprising: antenna switching means for switching connections between the plurality of antennas and the plurality of wireless means based on the antenna determined by the optimum antenna determining means. Having priority mode setting means for setting the state of the own device to a priority mode that prioritizes communication by a specific communication method;
When the priority mode is set, the optimum antenna determining means determines the antenna having the maximum reception strength of the signal used for the specified communication method as the optimal antenna and competes with the specified communication method. The mobile terminal according to claim 1, wherein communication operation by the communication method is stopped. Antenna control of a mobile terminal that performs communication using a plurality of different communication schemes, and includes a plurality of antennas having lengths corresponding to the frequencies of signals used for the respective communication schemes, and a plurality of wireless units provided for the respective communication schemes A method,
Detecting the received intensity of each of the plurality of antennas;
Determining an optimum antenna according to the detected reception strength of each antenna;
Switching the connection between the plurality of antennas and the plurality of wireless means based on the determined antenna. An antenna control method comprising: To a computer of a portable terminal that performs communication by a plurality of different communication methods, and has a plurality of antennas having a length corresponding to the frequency of a signal used for each communication method, and a plurality of wireless means provided for each communication method A program to be executed,
Detecting the received strength of each of the plurality of antennas;
Determining an optimum antenna according to the detected reception strength of each antenna;
Switching a connection between the plurality of antennas and the plurality of wireless means based on the determined antenna.

Images