JP2014232985A - Terminal device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a terminal device capable of simply and reliably communicating with external devices.SOLUTION: A terminal device comprises: an operation reception unit for accepting an operation on a touch panel (140); a communication unit for performing wireless communication with an external device; and a control unit for controlling the operation reception unit so as not to accept operation content in at least a partial region on the touch panel when the external device is close to the touch panel and the wireless communication with the external device is performed.

Description

  The present invention relates to a terminal device, and more particularly to a terminal device having a wireless communication function.

  Conventionally, a near field communication function by NFC (near field communication) is installed in a mobile terminal such as a smartphone, thereby enabling data transfer to a nearby terminal. In this case, the user starts data transmission / reception by a touch operation on the touch panel. Therefore, if the touch panel is erroneously operated, data may be transmitted to an unintended partner terminal.

  In order to solve such a problem, in Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2009-171234), if the user touches both terminals on the transmission side and the reception side and both fingerprints match, correct data is obtained. A mechanism for determining and transmitting is proposed.

JP 2009-171234 A

  However, in Patent Document 1, since the determination is based on matching of fingerprints operating both terminals for transmission and reception, it takes time to set the fingerprint.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a terminal device that can easily and reliably communicate with an external device.

  A terminal device according to an aspect of the present invention wirelessly communicates with an external device when an operation receiving unit for accepting an operation on a touch panel, a communication unit for wirelessly communicating with an external device, and the external device are close to each other. And a control unit that controls the operation receiving unit so as not to receive the operation content in at least a part of the area on the touch panel.

  According to the present invention, when an external device is approaching, when performing wireless communication with the external device, the operation receiving unit is controlled so as not to receive the operation content in at least a part of the area on the touch panel.

  With such a simple configuration, it is possible to prevent troubles in wireless communication due to an erroneous operation and to communicate with an external device.

It is a figure showing the external appearance of the terminal which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure showing the external appearance of the terminal which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a block diagram showing the hardware constitutions of the terminal which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a conceptual diagram of the information input device which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the function structure which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure explaining the process which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure explaining the invalidation process which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure explaining the activation process which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the approach aspect of the terminals which concern on Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a flowchart of the invalidation process which concerns on the 1st method of Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a flowchart of the invalidation process which concerns on the 2nd method of Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a figure explaining the communication aspect of the terminal which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the case where communication is performed without trouble. It is a figure which shows the case where trouble arises in communication.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that the same components are denoted by the same reference symbols in the respective drawings, and detailed description thereof will not be repeated.

  In the present embodiment, a portable terminal device is illustrated, but is not limited to a portable terminal, and may be a stationary terminal device. The mobile terminal device includes, for example, a mobile phone, a smartphone, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), a tablet terminal, and the like.

[Embodiment 1]
<Hardware configuration>
With reference to FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and FIG. 3, the configuration of portable terminal apparatus (hereinafter simply referred to as a terminal) 100 according to the present embodiment will be described. 1 and 2 are views showing the appearance of the terminal 100. FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of terminal 100. Referring to FIG. 1, a terminal 100 includes a housing 110, an antenna 120, a speaker 130, a display unit 210 having a known resistive film type touch panel 140 and a display device 212, a power button 150, a microphone 160, and an LED (Light Emitting). Diode) 170 is provided. A memory card 152 that is a card-like recording medium is detachably attached to the terminal 100 from the outside.

  Referring to FIG. 2, the side of the housing 110 on which the surface of the touch panel is disposed (hereinafter also referred to as the housing surface) incorporates a radio unit 22A described later, and is a surface opposite to the housing surface. A wireless unit 22B described later is built in (hereinafter also referred to as a case back).

  In addition to the configuration shown in FIG. 1, the terminal 100 includes a short-range wireless communication unit 220 corresponding to a function (sensor) that enables short-range wireless communication, a processor 230, a display driver 214, a flash memory 250, a RAM (Random (Access Memory) 252, graphic memory 254, ROM (Read Only Memory) 256, communication circuit 260, signal processing circuit 270, vibrator 280 and memory driver for accessing the installed memory card 152 under the control of the processor 230 151. The processor 230 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a timer for timing.

  The near field communication unit 220 includes wireless units 22A and 22B having a near field communication function by NFC (near field communication). Each of the radio units 22A and 22B includes a communication module including a modulation / demodulation unit according to the NFC communication protocol and a communication antenna. Short-range wireless communication includes communication using infrared rays or radio waves.

  The display unit 210 constitutes a part of a display-integrated input device that integrally includes the touch panel 140 and the display device 212. The display device 212 of the display unit 210 corresponds to an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) panel, and a touch panel 140 is placed on the display surface. The image displayed on the display surface is a visible image that is visible via the touch panel 140. That is, the user can visually recognize the display image on the LCD panel from the outside through the touch panel 140 made of a transparent member. Here, the touch panel 140 can employ a resistance film method, a capacitance method, an optical sensor method, or the like. Here, the touch panel 140 using the capacitance method will be described.

  The display panel constituting the display surface of the display unit 210 is not limited to the LCD described above, and an organic EL display (organic electroluminescence display), an FED (Field Emission Display), or the like may be used.

  The touch panel 140 is operated such as touching on the surface by a human body part such as a finger or an operation body such as a dedicated pen (not shown). Here, in order to simplify the description, it is assumed that the operating body is a human body part such as a finger. The touch panel 140 outputs an electrical signal corresponding to a position operated by the operating body (hereinafter referred to as an operation position) to the processor 230.

  Specifically, touch panel 140 includes a transparent glass plate and a film of a resin material that covers the entire surface of the glass plate, and both are arranged so as to sandwich a transparent electrode grid. The electrode grid represents a two-dimensional array surface in which a plurality of electrodes are arranged in a grid pattern. The electrode grid has a size that matches the size of the display area of the LCD panel. When the user touches (presses) a film point on the touch panel 140 with a finger, the capacitance signal output from the corresponding electrode changes.

  Based on the electrical signal from the touch panel 140, the processor 230 detects an operation (pressing) position on the electrode grid as a two-dimensional coordinate value (X0, Y0). Also, by comparing the level of the electrical signal with a predetermined level, it is detected from the comparison result whether the finger has started touching (touching down) on the touch panel 140, and whether the touch has been completed (touching up). To do.

  In this way, the touch panel 140 constitutes a part of an operation receiving unit 240 described later for receiving an input by a user operation.

  The LCD panel is configured by two-dimensionally arranging a plurality of electrode elements. Therefore, each electrode element can be specified by the two-dimensional coordinate value (x1, y1). The graphic memory 254 stores image data displayed on the display unit 210 by the processor 230. The image data represents two-dimensional bitmap data having a size that matches the size of the display area of the LCD panel. The display driver 214 generates an electric signal based on each bit value of the image data, and the generated electric signal is an electrode element having a coordinate value (x1, y1) corresponding to the coordinate value (x0, y0) of the bit of the LCD panel. Apply to. As a result, an image according to the image data in the graphic memory 254 is displayed on the display device 212.

  The processor 230 controls the operation of the terminal 100. The processor 230 cooperates with the touch panel 140 to detect a coordinate position indicating the operation position on the touch panel 140, more specifically, coordinate data.

  Specifically, the operation accepting unit 240 of the processor 230 detects an electrode position corresponding to the operation position on the electrode grid based on the electric signal from the touch panel 140, and uses the conversion coefficient in which the detected electrode position is determined in advance. The coordinate data is acquired by converting the coordinate values of the corresponding points on the touch panel 140. Further, the operation reception unit 240 is based on time-series coordinate data based on electric signals input in time series, and a touch move locus from the start point (touch down) to the end point (immediate touch up) of the operation on the touch panel 140. Has a trajectory detection unit that detects a trajectory composed of a series of coordinate values. The series of coordinate values are time-series coordinate values according to the detection order. Note that the method of acquiring the coordinate value from the electrode position corresponding to the operation position is not limited to the method using the conversion coefficient, and the corresponding coordinate value may be read from the table by searching the table.

  Depending on the size of the touch area of the operating body, a plurality of coordinate values are detected as the coordinate position. In this case, the operation receiving unit 240 calculates the coordinate position of the center of gravity of the touch area and touches it. The detected operation position is detected.

The flash memory 250 holds data given to the terminal 100 or data generated by the processor 230 in a nonvolatile manner.

The RAM 252 temporarily holds data generated by the processor 230.
The graphic memory 254 stores data for displaying an image on the display device 212. In another aspect, the RAM 252 and the graphic memory 254 may be configured as a single unit.

  The ROM 256 holds firmware for operating the terminal 100, the above-described program for accepting operation input and other various programs, and data preliminarily input as setting values for causing the terminal 100 to perform operations specific to the ROM 256. Yes.

  The display driver 214 performs a drawing operation based on data stored in the graphic memory 254 on the display device 212. The display device 212 displays an image according to the operation.

  The communication circuit 260 converts the signal received by the antenna 120 and sends the converted signal to the processor 230. In another aspect, communication circuit 260 converts the signal sent from processor 230 into a signal for transmission, and sends the converted signal to antenna 120. In the present embodiment, the communication circuit 260 has a function of performing communication according to a communication protocol different from NFC communication. For example, communication is performed according to a protocol that enables wireless communication over a relatively long distance using a high-frequency signal such as a telephone call.

  In the present embodiment, as for the communication function of terminal 100, communication by short-range wireless communication unit 220 will be described, and details of communication by communication circuit 260 will not be repeated.

  The signal processing circuit 270 converts the electrical signal sent from the microphone 160 and sends the converted signal to the processor 230. When terminal 100 outputs audio, signal processing circuit 270 converts the signal sent from processor 230 into a signal for audio output, and sends the converted signal to speaker 130. The speaker 130 outputs sound based on the signal.

  Vibrator 280 oscillates with a predetermined vibration pattern based on a signal sent from processor 230.

  Note that the operation received by the processor 230 is not limited to a user operation via the touch panel 140, and includes an operation such as pressing a physical button such as the power button 150.

  FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram of the information input device according to the present embodiment. Referring to FIG. 4, the information input device includes a display unit 210 including a touch panel 140 and a display device 212, and an operation receiving unit 240. In FIG. 3, a graphic memory 254 and a display driver 214 are shown in connection with the information input device. The graphic memory 254 stores data such as an execution result of the program or an image to be displayed by the processor 230 and data generated by the display control unit 290 based on information from the operation reception unit 240. Accordingly, the display driver 214 drives the LCD panel of the display device 212 based on the data in the graphic memory 254, so that the display unit 210 displays an image (stroke trajectory or the like) by a user operation superimposed on the image.

  In the present embodiment, the display surface of the LCD panel of the display device 212 and the entire surface (operation surface) of the touch panel 140 placed thereon have the same shape and area, but at least the surface on which the touch panel 140 can be operated. It suffices if the display area fits inside. As described above, the area that can accept the operation input of the touch panel 140 corresponds to the display area of the LCD panel, and here, the entire surface of the LCD panel is the display area.

<Functional configuration>
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a functional configuration according to the embodiment of the present invention in association with the configuration of FIG. Referring to FIG. 5, each function is realized by a program executed by CPU of processor 230 or a combination of a program and a circuit. The program is stored in advance in a memory such as the ROM 256.

  Referring to FIG. 5, the CPU of processor 230 has a touch event detection unit 302 for detecting a touch operation on touch panel 140 as an event from an output of operation reception unit 240, a touch panel control unit 303 for controlling touch panel 140, A processing control unit 300 corresponding to a CPU and a communication state management unit 304 for managing the state (communication mode) of short-range wireless communication of the terminal 100 are provided.

<Communication mode and switching>
The communication state management unit 304 manages the communication mode of the terminal 100 using the data 314 indicating the communication mode. Mode data 314 is stored in a predetermined area of RAM 252. The communication state management unit 304 sets either “communication mode” or “non-communication mode” in the mode data 314 based on the output of the processing control unit 300. The “communication mode” mode data 314 indicates either “transmission mode” or “reception mode”.

  When the terminal 100 first receives a signal having a predetermined frequency according to NFC, the terminal 100 detects near field communication. The short-range wireless communication is detected to recognize the address of the counterpart terminal 100, and the operation mode shifts to the communication mode. For example, the terminal 100 that has activated the P2P (Peer to Peer) communication function in the NFC function always transmits the carrier wave from the short-range wireless communication unit 220 to detect the partner terminal during the P2P activation. Therefore, when the terminals 100 that are activated by P2P approach each other at a short distance, the processing control unit 300 between the terminals 100 detects the reception of the carrier wave from the output of the short-range wireless communication unit 220, and the communication state management unit The detection result is output to 304. The communication state management unit 304 changes the mode data 314 to indicate “communication mode” from the detection result. This is called “a state in which near field communication is recognized”. On the other hand, when the carrier wave is not detected or the end of communication is detected, the mode data 314 is changed to indicate “non-communication mode”.

  In the first embodiment, the output of the short-range wireless communication unit 220 includes an identifier for identifying one of the wireless units 22A and 22B that has received the carrier wave. Therefore, the process control unit 300 can determine which of the radio units 22A and 22B is receiving the carrier wave. When it is determined that the wireless unit 22A is receiving, it is determined that the carrier wave is detected on the surface of the touch panel 140, and when it is determined that the wireless unit 22B is receiving, the carrier wave is detected on the back surface of the housing 110. It is determined that

  In the present embodiment, among the terminals 100 that have shifted to the “communication mode” as described above, the transmission object that is touched first is the transmission side, and the other is the reception side. Specifically, in the terminal 100, when the user intends to transmit an object (data such as an image), the user touches an icon of a transmittable object (transmission candidate) displayed on the touch panel 140. When the touch operation position is input from the operation reception unit 240, the touch event detection unit 302 detects the touch event, and outputs an event detection notification including the touch operation position to the processing control unit 300. The process control unit 300 determines that the transmission object is designated from the event detection notification, and outputs the determination result to the communication state management unit 304. The communication state management unit 304 sets (changes) the mode data 314 to “transmission mode” based on the determination result. In addition, the process control unit 300 identifies a transmission object designated by the user from the event detection notification, reads the identified object from the RAM 252, and outputs it to the short-range wireless communication unit 220. When the object is given, the short-range wireless communication unit 220 determines the type of the current communication mode from the mode data 314. When it is determined that the mode is “transmission mode”, transmission of the object is started.

  Prior to starting the transmission of the object, the processing control unit 300 notifies the counterpart terminal 100 via the short-range wireless communication unit 220. In the counterpart terminal 100, when receiving the notification, the processing control unit 300 changes the mode data 314 to indicate “reception mode”.

<Processing flow>
FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining processing according to the embodiment of the present invention. Here, it is assumed that short-range wireless communication is performed between two terminals A and B (both are terminals 100).

  In association with the process flowchart of FIG. 6A, FIG. 6B schematically shows an aspect in which the receiving terminal A is brought close to the transmitting terminal B.

  FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of invalidation processing according to the present embodiment. FIG. 8 shows a flowchart of the activation process according to the present embodiment.

Invalidation Process In terminal 100 according to the present embodiment, “touch panel invalidation” is executed during short-range wireless communication.

  Referring to FIG. 7, processing control unit 300 determines whether or not the carrier wave signal by short-range wireless communication is detected from the output of short-range wireless communication unit 220 on the surface of the housing, that is, on the surface of touch panel 140. Determination is made (step R19). If it is determined that it is not on the surface of touch panel 140 (NO in step R19), the process ends and returns to the original process. On the other hand, if it determines with having detected on the surface of the touch panel 140 (it is YES at step R19), the touch panel 140 will be invalidated (step R21), a process will be complete | finished, and it will return to the original process. When the touch panel 140 is invalidated, the processing control unit 300 changes a flag indicating whether the touch panel 140 is valid / invalid stored in an internal register (not shown) to “invalid”. Note that the initial value of the flag is “valid”.

  Here, “touch panel invalidation” means that an electrical signal (capacitance change signal) generated when the touch panel 140 is operated by the operating body is output from the touch panel 140, but the processing control unit 300 inputs this. This indicates that the operation receiving unit 240 is controlled not to be performed (ignored).

  The “touch panel invalidation” is not limited to a method realized by software processing that ignores the signal from the touch panel 140, and may be realized by hardware processing that does not supply power to the touch panel 140, or a combination thereof. May be realized.

  As described above, when the processing control unit 300 determines that the flag indicates “invalid”, even if the touch panel 140 is operated by the operating tool, the processing control unit 300 may be in a state where no instruction is given to the terminal 100. it can.

• Enabling Process In the terminal 100 according to the present embodiment, the process control unit 300 repeatedly executes the enabling process of FIG. 8 when the flag of the internal register indicates “invalid”.

  Referring to FIG. 8, process control unit 300 measures the elapsed time after the flag is set to “invalidation” using a timer, and compares the measured time with a predetermined time. Based on the comparison result, it is determined whether or not a predetermined time length has elapsed since the flag was set to “invalid” (step R27). If it is determined that the time has elapsed (YES in step R27), the process proceeds to step R31. If it is determined that the time has not elapsed (NO in step R27), it is determined whether or not the short-range wireless communication is completed. Determination is made (step R29). If it is determined that the carrier wave signal is received and communication is continued (NO in step R29), the process returns to step R27, but if it is determined that communication is completed (YES in step R27), the process is performed. The control unit 300 changes the value of the flag to indicate “valid” and switches the touch panel 140 from the invalid state to the valid state based on the change of the flag value to “valid” (step R31).

  As described above, when the flag changes from “invalid” to “valid”, the process control unit 300 causes the operation reception unit 240 to resume the operation content reception of the touch panel 140 from the invalidation state by the interrupt process. Transition. Thereafter, the input of instructions based on the operation content of the touch panel 140 by the operating body is resumed.

  Note that the predetermined time is determined based on a standard time length required from the start to the completion of the short-range wireless communication, and is fixed to, for example, a few seconds. Further, the predetermined time may be variable. For example, the processing control unit 300 measures and varies the length of time to make the invalidation state based on the conditions of the short-range wireless communication path (such as the SN ratio of the communication path) or the amount of data to be transmitted (or data type). (The time required for communication increases when there is a lot of noise, or the time required increases if there is a large amount of data.)

  In FIG. 8, if one of the two conditions that a predetermined time elapses after the “touch panel invalidation” is performed or that the short-range wireless communication is completed is satisfied, the touch panel 140 is changed. Since the state is switched from the invalid state to the valid state, the “touch panel invalidation” state can be prevented from continuing for a long period of time, and the operability can be maintained.

  Further, in FIG. 8, since the condition (step R27) in which a predetermined time elapses is determined first among the above two conditions, an error occurs in short-range wireless communication, and retransmission is repeated. In addition, it is possible to prevent the “touch panel invalidation” state from continuing for a long period of time and maintain operability.

Overall Process Returning to FIG. 6A, the overall process will be described. First, in the mode of FIG. 6B, it is assumed that the user brings the back surface of the casing 110 of the terminal B close to the surface of the touch panel 140 of the terminal A (operation OP1). 6A, the user causes the rear surface of the casing of the terminal B to approach the casing surface of the terminal A (the touch panel front side). As a result, a short-range wireless communication is possible.

  When the terminals A and B approaching by the operation OP1 shift to “a state in which short-range wireless communication is recognized”, the touch panel invalidation process (FIG. 7) is executed in the terminal A on the transmission side (step R5). In the terminal A, the process control unit 300 displays the icon of the transmittable object on the display unit 210A via the display control unit 290 based on the mode data 314 indicating “communication mode” (step R7). At this time, in the transmitting terminal B as well, an icon of a transmittable object is displayed on the display unit 210B (step S7).

  In the receiving terminal A, even if the operating tool accidentally touches the touch panel 140 of the terminal A (operation OP2) in a state where the touch panel is invalidated, the receiving terminal A does not operate due to the erroneous operation of the terminal A. Distance wireless communication continues. Even if the icon of the transmission object is touched by mistake (operation OP2), the object is not transmitted from the terminal A.

  In the transmitting terminal B, an icon of an object to be transmitted is displayed, and the user performs a touch operation on the icon (operation OP3). By this touch operation, transmission of the designated object is started (steps S9 and R9).

  After that, when the process control unit 300 of the terminal A detects the end of communication of the object from the signal received from the terminal B, the touch panel activation process is executed (step R11).

  Thereafter, in terminal A and terminal B, in response to the completion of the transmission / reception of the object, the processing control unit 300 displays a predetermined image representing the completion of the transmission / reception instead of the icon of the transmission object.

  In the present embodiment, the terminal A on the receiving side is a case where short-distance wireless communication is performed with the terminal B by the radio unit 22A on the front surface side of the touch panel 140, that is, the radio unit 22A on the side receiving operation by the operating tool. The touch panel 140 is invalidated. On the other hand, in the terminal B on the transmission side, the short-distance wireless communication is performed by the wireless unit 22B on the back side of the housing, that is, the wireless unit 22A on the housing surface side (front surface of the touch panel 140) does not perform short-range wireless communication. Accordingly, the “touch panel invalidation” routine is not started on the terminal B, and the operation receiving unit 240 remains in a state where it can accept the operation content from the touch panel 140. Therefore, the user can display the display image on the touch panel 140 of the terminal B. It is possible to operate and input instructions while referring to them.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 6B, by incorporating the wireless unit 22A on the housing surface (front surface of the touch panel 140) side, the user can perform communication processing while viewing the screen.

[Embodiment 2]
In the first embodiment, the entire surface area of the touch panel 140 is invalidated, but the invalidation may be limited to a partial area as in the present embodiment.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of an approach mode between terminals according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 9, touch panel 140 of receiving terminal A includes area E1 to be invalidated at the time of “touch panel invalidation”, and short-range wireless signals are detected in radio area 22A within the area E1 ( Area E2 that can be transmitted and received). Specifically, when the surface area size of the touch panel 140 is large, short-range wireless communication is performed in a part of the surface area, and a touch operation or the like by the operating body can be received in other areas. As a result, the touch panel operation can be accepted in other areas except for the partial area that is set to “touch panel invalidation”.

  FIG. 9 schematically shows a state in which the area E2 from which the radio unit of the terminal B can detect the carrier wave signal is viewed from above, and the position and size of the area E2 are arranged with the communication module of the radio unit 22A. This corresponds to the position and size of the area. The areas E1 and E2 have a rectangular shape here for the sake of simplicity, but the shape is not limited to this.

  In the second embodiment, there are the following two methods as the setting method of the area E1 of “touch panel invalidation”.

(First method)
In the first method, a case where the size and position of the area E1 are fixed will be described. That is, since the position of the wireless unit 22A is fixed, the size (length and width of the rectangle) and the position of the area E2 are also fixed, and accordingly, the size of the invalid area E1 that surrounds the area E2 and The position is also fixed.

  In the first method, designated area information indicating the position and size of the area E2 on the touch panel 140 is stored in advance in a nonvolatile area of the RAM 252 or the like. The designated area information is indicated by the coordinate value of the touch panel 140.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart of invalidation processing according to the first method of the second embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 10, in the terminal A on the receiving side, the determination process in step R19 is executed as in the first embodiment. If it is determined that the surface is not on the housing surface, that is, the front surface side of the touch panel 140 (NO in step R19), the process ends and returns to the original process. On the other hand, if it is determined that the touch panel 140 has been detected on the surface (YES in step R19), that is, if a short-range wireless communication signal is detected in area E2, "touch panel invalidation" processing is executed.

  Specifically, the process control unit 300 reads designated area information of the area E2 from the RAM 252 (step R41).

  Subsequently, the area E1 of the touch panel 140 is invalidated (step R43). Specifically, the position and size of the area E1 are obtained by calculating from the designated area information of the area E2 according to a predetermined arithmetic expression. The processing control unit 300 controls the operation receiving unit 240 so that the operation indicating the coordinate value in the rectangular area indicated by the designated area information of the area E1 is ignored (discarded) among the operation contents of the touch panel 140. Therefore, other inputs are accepted, and the process control unit 300 performs processing according to the accepted operation content. Thereby, the touch panel invalidation according to the first method is realized. Thereafter, the process is terminated and the process returns to the original process.

  Also in the first method, the processing control unit 300 changes the flag indicating whether the touch panel 140 is valid / invalid stored in an internal register (not shown) to “invalid”. The process control unit 300 continues to ignore the operation input from the area E1 as described above while the flag indicates “invalid”, but the flag is changed from “invalid” to “valid” by the process of FIG. Then, the operation reception unit 240 is controlled to cancel the invalidation of the operation content in the area E1. Thereafter, the operation accepting unit 240 resumes accepting operation input from the entire surface of the touch panel 140 including the area E1.

(Second method)
In the first method, the size and position of the invalidation area E1 are fixed, but may be variable. In the second method, the process control unit 300 has a function of a region changing unit that changes at least one of the size of the region E1 and the position on the touch panel 140. At least one of the position and the size of the area E1 is variably set by the area changing unit.

  Terminal 100 incorporates a proximity sensor (not shown) on the surface side of touch panel 140. The mounted proximity sensor has detection electrodes arranged in an array corresponding to the surface of the touch panel 140. When the detection body (conductor such as the operation body or the terminal 100) approaches the surface of the touch panel 140, the corresponding detection electrode outputs a capacitance signal corresponding to the distance from the detection body. The region changing unit of the processing control unit 300 detects the presence / absence of the approach and the position / size of the approached area based on the output from the proximity sensor (the position of the electrode and the amount of change in its capacitance). Based on the above, the designated area information regarding the area E1 is acquired.

  Note that a capacitive proximity sensor function using the touch panel 140 may be used instead of specially mounting the proximity sensor. That is, the operation reception unit 240 detects that the detection body has approached the touch panel surface from the input by the floating touch operation of the touch panel 140. Here, the “floating touch operation” indicates an operation in which an instruction can be input by the operating body from a change in capacitance by bringing a finger close to the surface of the touch panel 140 (without actually touching the screen). .

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart of invalidation processing according to the second method of the second embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 11, in the terminal A on the receiving side, the processing control unit 300 determines whether or not the detection body is approaching the surface of the touch panel 140 from the output of the proximity sensor (step R17). Specifically, the amount of change in capacitance output from the proximity sensor is compared with a predetermined value, and the presence or absence of approach is determined from the comparison result.

  If it is not determined that the vehicle is approaching (NO in step R17), the process in step R17 is repeated. If it is determined that the vehicle is approaching (YES in step R17), the determination in step R19 is performed as in the first embodiment. Processing is executed. If it is determined that it is not on the surface of touch panel 140 (NO in step R19), the process ends and returns to the original process. On the other hand, if it is determined that the touch panel 140 has been detected on the surface (YES in step R19), a “touch panel invalidation” process is executed.

  First, the process control unit 300 acquires the position where the detection body is approaching from the output of the proximity sensor (step R45). Then, the designated area information of the area E1 is calculated from the acquired position according to a predetermined arithmetic expression. The process control unit 300 controls the operation accepting unit 240 so as to invalidate the area E1 of the touch panel 140 indicated by the acquired designated area information (step R47). When invalidated, the operation accepting unit 240 ignores the operation content indicating the coordinate value in the rectangular area indicated by the designated area information of the area E1 among the operation content from the touch panel 140, and accepts the rest. Thereby, the touch panel invalidation according to the second method is realized. Thereafter, the process ends and returns to the original process.

  Also in the second method, when the “touch panel invalidation” is performed, the processing control unit 300 changes the flag indicating whether validity / invalidity to “invalid”. As described above, the operation input from the area E1 is ignored while the flag indicates “invalid”. However, when the flag is changed from “invalid” to “valid” by the processing of FIG. Is released, and the operation receiving unit 240 resumes receiving operation inputs from the entire surface of the touch panel 140 including the area E1.

  According to the first and second methods, when the area size that can be input to the touch panel 140 of the terminal A on the receiving side is very large, short-distance wireless communication is performed on a part of the touch panel 140 (area E2). On the other hand, the touch panel is invalidated in the peripheral part (area E1) of the area E2, but the touch panel is not invalidated in other parts except for the touch panel operation.

  Terminal 100 may be equipped with both invalidation functions according to the first and second embodiments, and one of them may be selectively activated from a user operation. Further, the processing control unit 300 may select the one to be activated from the type of object (image (still image, moving image) data, audio data, personal information, etc.) transmitted during the short-range wireless communication. Further, the process control unit 300 may activate the one selected from the types of application programs activated during the short-range wireless communication. Furthermore, in short-range wireless communication, the terminal 100 may transmit / receive terminal model information and select the one to be activated from the terminal model. Further, the selection of the first and second methods of the second embodiment can also be selected based on the same criteria.

[Embodiment 3]
The program related to the processing according to the above-described embodiment is stored in advance in the storage area of the terminal 100, and the processing is realized by the CPU of the processor 230 reading the program from the storage area and executing the program instruction. .

  Such a program is a memory medium attached to the terminal 100, and can be non-temporarily recorded on a recording medium readable by the CPU and provided to the terminal 100 as a program product. The memory medium includes a card-shaped memory card 152 that is detachably attached to the terminal 100, a CD (Compact Disc) -ROM, a ROM, a RAM, and the like.

  The CPU reads the program from the attached memory medium via the memory driver and stores it in the RAM 252 or the like. The program stores the program received by the antenna 120 via the network and received by the CPU in a predetermined storage area of the RAM 252. By these methods, a program may be appropriately provided from the outside.

  The provided program product includes the program itself and a recording medium on which the program is recorded non-temporarily.

(Modification)
In the embodiment, the wireless units 22A and 22B for short-range wireless communication are provided on both the front surface and the back surface of the housing, but a configuration including one may be used. Specifically, the terminal 100 on the receiving side only needs to be able to communicate on the front surface side of the touch panel 140, and thus the wireless unit 22B may not be provided on the rear surface side of the housing.

  Further, although two independent wireless units 22A and 22B are provided, short-range wireless communication on both the front and back sides of the housing may be controlled using a single wireless unit. For example, an antenna laid on the front surface side of the touch panel 140 and an antenna laid on the back side of the housing 110 may be connected to one communication module, and the communication module may transmit and receive signals from both antennas.

  Further, the transmitting terminal need not have the same configuration as the receiving terminal 100. For example, the terminal on the transmission side may be a short-distance wireless communication card used for electronic money transactions or the like. That is, it is also possible to apply payment using electronic money to a case where a customer holds his / her card over the touch panel of a payment terminal and communicates.

(Effect according to the embodiment)
The effects according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 12, FIG. 13 and FIG. FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a communication mode of terminal 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 12A, the user performs short-distance wireless communication by bringing the wireless unit 22B of the terminal 100B held by the user closer to the area E2 of the touch panel 140 of the terminal 100A.

  FIG. 13 shows a case where communication is performed without hindrance in the communication mode of FIG. 12A, and FIG. 14 shows a case where communication hinders.

  First, the case of FIG. 13 will be described. In FIG. 13, when the phone book data is transmitted from the terminal B to the terminal A (see (A) in FIG. 13), the phone book data is displayed on the terminal B as an object to be transmitted, and the photo is displayed on the terminal A. Although the data is displayed (see FIG. 13B), the two terminals are not yet in the “recognized short-range wireless communication” state (see FIG. 13A).

  Here, when the user grasps the terminal B and starts short-distance wireless communication in the form of FIG. 12A, the “state in which short-distance wireless communication is recognized” is detected ((C) of FIG. 13). (See FIG. 13 (D)). On the screens of both terminals 100, a message “Please touch the screen when transmitting data” is displayed for the transmission target object being displayed.

  When the user holding the terminal B confirms the display message on the terminal B and touches the transmission target object (phone book data) being displayed (see (E) of FIG. 13), the phone book data of the terminal B is stored in the terminal After that, short-range wireless communication is completed, and a message indicating the end of communication is displayed on both terminals (see (F) of FIG. 13). Thereby, near field communication is performed without any problem, and terminal B can transmit its own phone book data to terminal A, and terminal A can receive the phone book data from terminal B.

  On the other hand, in FIG. 14, when the short-range wireless communication is started in the mode of FIG. 12A, the process proceeds in the same manner as in FIGS. 13A to 13D ((A of FIG. 14). ) To (D)), a case where the user's hand holding the terminal 100B is in contact with the surface of the touch panel 140 of the terminal A (see the contact portion TA) as shown in FIG. 12B (see FIG. 14). (See (E)). In this case, the processing control unit 300 of the terminal A transmits photo data being displayed on the terminal A to the terminal B by the wireless unit 22A based on an erroneous (unintentional) touch operation input of the contact unit TA of the touch panel 140. (Refer to FIG. 14F). Therefore, in the case of FIG. 14, an erroneous operation of the contact portion TA causes a problem that unintended photo data of the terminal A is transmitted instead of the phone book data of the terminal B to be originally transmitted.

  In the above embodiment, the trouble can be reliably prevented. That is, at the time of short-range wireless communication, the terminal A on the receiving side is “touch panel invalidated”, so that even if the contact portion TA is generated, the operation input is not accepted. In particular, NFC is a short-range wireless communication similar to FeliCa (registered trademark), and the communication distance is several centimeters. However, according to the present embodiment, the malfunction can be prevented by disabling the touch panel. Therefore, it is possible to realize the convenience of the operation that data can be transferred to another terminal only by the operation of the touch panel 140 and the accuracy of data management that can prevent erroneous data transmission due to an erroneous operation.

  The embodiment disclosed this time should be considered as illustrative in all points and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, rather than the description above, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.

  22A, 22B Wireless unit, 100 terminal, 140 touch panel, 220 short-range wireless communication unit, 230 processor, 240 operation reception unit, 290 display control unit, 300 processing control unit, 302 touch event detection unit, 303 touch panel control unit, 304 communication State management part, 314 mode data, E1, E2 area, TA contact part.

Claims (5)

An operation reception unit for receiving operations on the touch panel;
A communication unit for wireless communication with an external device;
A control unit that controls the operation accepting unit so as not to accept operation content in at least a part of the touch panel when wirelessly communicating with the external device when the external device is approaching, apparatus. The controller is
The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein it is determined whether or not the external device is approaching from a reception signal by wireless communication of the communication unit. The controller is
The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein when the wireless communication with the external device is completed, the operation receiving unit is controlled to start receiving operation content on the touch panel.   The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit includes a region changing unit that changes at least one of a size of the partial region and a position on the touch panel. The touch panel has an electrode and outputs a capacitance signal that varies depending on the approach distance between the electrode and the conductor,
The region changing portion is
The terminal device according to claim 4, wherein at least one of a size of the partial area and a position on the touch panel is changed from the capacitance signal output by the touch panel.

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