JP2791101B2 - Portable electronic devices - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial application field) The present invention relates to a portable electronic device called an IC card used as a credit card in a shopping system, for example.

(Prior Art) In recent years, as a new portable data storage medium, an IC (integrated circuit) chip having an erasable non-volatile memory (memory unit) and a control element (control unit) such as a CPU for controlling the same. An IC card with a built-in has been developed.

This type of IC card accesses a built-in memory by a built-in control element, and selectively performs input / output of necessary data in response to a request from the outside.

Further, recently, a battery-driven multifunctional IC card which has a built-in battery in the card, has a keyboard and a display unit, and operates offline without being connected to a terminal device or the like has been developed.

By the way, in such a multifunctional IC card, a message such as an operation guide displayed on the display unit in the offline function is a ROM storing an operation program of the control element.
(Read-only memory), and cannot be changed.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) Since the display message for operation guidance is fixedly stored in the ROM storing the operation program of the control unit, even if the IC has the same processing function, A new IC must be created to change the display message, which is costly and time consuming. In addition, management must be performed for each IC.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a portable electronic device that is inexpensive, has a short manufacturing time, and is easy to manage in manufacturing.

[Constitution of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) A portable electronic device according to the present invention includes a keyboard for inputting data, a communication unit for receiving a display message for operation guidance from outside, and the communication unit. Readable and writable storage means for storing messages and data received at
A message stored in the storage means by the operation of the keyboard, or a display unit for displaying and outputting data input by the keyboard, and when a message is externally received by the communication means, the setting of the message is completed. It is determined whether or not the setting end flag indicating whether the setting has been completed indicates whether or not the setting has been completed. If the setting has not been completed, the message received by the communication means is stored in the storage means. Setting means for setting an end flag to a setting end state.

(Operation) By storing the display message for the operation guide in the readable and writable storage means, for example, the message is not directly present in the read-only memory for storing the operation program of the control unit. The message does not have to be determined at the stage of creation. Further, the read-only memory is not changed by changing the message, so that various devices can be created with the same IC, and the cost is reduced and the manufacturing time is shortened. Since the device is one type of device until the message is stored, inspection and management in the manufacturing process become very easy.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 shows the appearance of a multifunctional IC card used as a credit card or the like as an example of a portable electronic device according to the present invention. That is, reference numeral 1 denotes a card body, which is made of, for example, a rectangular thin plastic plate. A predetermined portion of the surface of the card body 1 is electrically connected to an integrated circuit (IC) 2 embedded in the card body 1 to electrically communicate with an external device (eg, a terminal device) (not shown) during online use. , A liquid crystal display unit 4 for displaying input / output data and time data, and a keyboard 5 for data input. The keyboard 5 is provided with ten keys, function keys, and the like. A crystal oscillator 6 and a battery 7 for power supply are embedded in the card body 1.

FIG. 1 shows a circuit configuration of the above-mentioned IC card. That is, a control element (control section) 11 such as a CPU is responsible for overall control. The control element 11 is connected to the contact section, the liquid crystal display section 4 and the keyboard 5, and stores data. A data memory (memory unit) 12, a program memory 13 for storing an operation program of the control element 11, and a clock circuit 14 are connected, and among these, the control element 11, the data memory 12, the program memory 13, The clock circuit 14 is formed of one chip (or a plurality of chips) as the integrated circuit 2,
The integrated circuit 2 is supplied with operating power by a battery 7.

The data memory 12 stores various data and display messages such as operation guides.
It is composed of a readable and writable nonvolatile memory such as a PROM.

The program memory 13 stores an operation program of the control element 11 and the like, and is configured by a read-only memory such as a mask ROM.

The clock circuit 14 generates date and time information by counting the reference clock output from the crystal oscillator 6.

Next, the operation in such a configuration will be described. Book
As an IC card using means, there are an online mode performed by a function of communicating with the outside through the contact section 3,
There is an online mode performed by the keyboard 5 and the liquid crystal display unit 4.

The operation in the offline mode is performed by operating the keyboard 5, and a message is displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 4 by operating the keyboard 5. By operating the keyboard 5 according to the message, a process based on the operation program stored in the program memory 13 is executed.

Now, in such an IC card, there is a message displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 4 according to the processing procedure. Now, assume that a shopping transaction can be performed, for example, according to the procedure shown in FIG. At this time, it is assumed that the message is stored in katakana, for example, as shown in FIG. Then, the message of the katakana existing at the position of the number is displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 4. Also, for example, if the message is stored in English characters as shown in FIG. 4 (b), the message will be displayed in English on the liquid crystal display unit 4.

Such a message is set and stored in the data memory 12, for example. For example, a procedure as shown in FIG. 5 can be considered as the setting storage method. Hereinafter, this will be described. In the online mode via the contact unit 3, a message setting command is transmitted from the external device to the control element 11 of the IC card. Then, the control element 11 determines whether or not the setting end flag is set (set). If the setting end flag is not yet ended (reset), the process proceeds to the setting process.

That is, first, it is checked whether or not the message can be set using a password or the like, and if so, address information and a message for storing the message are transmitted from the external device, and the message is stored in the data memory 12. .
After the storage, a selection is made as to whether or not to store another message, and if it is to be ended, the input data is confirmed. Here, if the input is correct and the setting storage is to be ended, the setting end flag is set, and all the message setting operations are ended.

In this way, a display message for operation guidance is displayed.
Since the message is not stored in the ROM (program memory 13), the message does not have to be determined when the ROM is created.
Also, the ROM is not changed by changing the message. Furthermore, when it is necessary to change the message, the IC card that does not change anything in terms of hardware can be used as it is, shortening the development period and production period, and allowing the same type to be used in a variety of ways. Very effective. In addition, since one type of IC card is used until the message is stored, inspection and management in the manufacturing process become very easy.

In the above-described embodiment, as a method of setting and storing a message, a method as shown in FIG. 5 is exemplified. However, the method is not limited to this. For example, a setting end flag may not be present, and No collation of numbers is required.

Further, when setting and storing a message, both address information and a message are input as data. However, depending on a processing method, a method in which only a message is input as data and a storage address is generated inside the card can be considered.

Further, the data memory is also used as the readable and writable storage means for storing the message. However, this is not always necessary, and a readable and writable storage means dedicated to the message may be provided.

[Effect of the Invention] As described in detail above, according to the present invention, the cost is low,
It is possible to provide a portable electronic device in which the production time is shortened and the production management is easy.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration of an IC card, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the external appearance of an IC card, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a message stored in a data memory, and FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for setting and storing a message. 2 integrated circuit, 3 contact section, 4 liquid crystal display section, 5 keyboard, 11 control element (control section), 12
…… Data memory (memory unit, storage means), 13 …… Program memory.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A keyboard for inputting data, communication means for receiving a display message for operation guidance from outside, readable and writable storage means for storing messages and data received by the communication means, and the keyboard And a display unit for displaying and outputting the message stored in the storage unit or the data input by the keyboard by the operation of: when the message is externally received by the communication unit, whether the setting of the message is completed or not. It is determined whether or not the setting end flag indicating whether or not the setting end is indicated. When the setting end flag is not indicated, the message received by the communication means is stored in the storage means. A portable electronic device, comprising: setting means for setting a setting end state.