JP4528505B2 - Power supply control method and wireless terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a wireless communication system capable of furthermore suppressing the power consumption of a mobile apparatus at a terminal, a wireless terminal, and a power supply control method therefor. <P>SOLUTION: The wireless terminal connected to a wireless base station through a wireless channel is provided with: a means for checking the presence / no presence of a packet during transmission before start of packet transmission, transmits a packet when no transmitting packet exists, and awaits the transmission of the packet for a prescribed time when the transmitted packet exists; and a means for measuring the prescribed time, and when discriminating the wait of packet transmission, the wireless terminal controls power interruption for the prescribed time. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

  The present invention relates to a wireless communication system that transmits and receives information between a wireless terminal and a wireless base station, and particularly relates to a reduction in power consumption of the wireless terminal. Specifically, the present invention relates to battery saving of a wireless terminal in a wireless communication system that performs SDL (Super High Speed DownLink) transmission in which a downlink can be transmitted at a higher speed than an uplink in a wireless transmission path.

  With the spread of small portable information processing / electronic devices, communication functions have been added to these portable devices, and services using various networks have been provided.

  In general, when providing communication means to small portable electronic devices, “anytime”, “anywhere”, “anyone”, and “any information” to take advantage of the characteristics of a portable device It is desirable that the wireless communication system be able to communicate “simplely”.

  To realize such a wireless communication system, a base station is connected to a communication network such as a public network or a digital network, and a bidirectional wireless communication channel is established between the base station and the wireless terminal. Sends information to the terminal using the downlink radio channel, sends information from the terminal to the base station using the uplink radio channel, and provides an information providing device such as a database in the communication network. You can access the database via the base station and receive the necessary information, and you can freely exchange calls and data with telephone terminals, facsimile terminals, computers, etc. connected to the communication network. Such as communication with a wireless terminal via a base station, which can be considered by a mobile communication system. It has become a reality.

  By the way, since multimedia has been put into practical use, various attempts to increase the bandwidth of a line have been made in response to a demand for high-speed transmission of extremely large amounts of data such as image transmission. .

  However, in a broadband line, there is a large amount of hardware power consumption not only on the transmitting side but also on the receiving side. Especially for wireless terminals that are presumed to be portable, the problem is how to handle the necessary power. Become. When multimedia is considered, information such as voice, image, and data is handled, but it is natural for a wireless terminal to stand on the use side rather than a supply source of these various types of information.

  In other words, it is natural that a mobile terminal can provide a two-way call service, but as a multimedia service, a service in which voice, images, and data are received from a database or an information supply source and used by a terminal user. It is. This can be a great potential demand as a service form.

  For example, it is a great possibility to provide services in new fields using high-performance wireless terminals, such as watching movies or subscribing to electronic publications including newspapers and magazines.

  To provide such a service, it is necessary to transmit a large amount of data at high speed, and a broadband high-speed wireless channel is required, but this does not have to be bidirectional, and should be provided only to the base station side. Is enough. That is, a system configuration in which a database and an information supply source are set on the base station side, and information can be unilaterally transmitted from the base station side to the terminal in response to a request from the wireless terminal to the wireless terminal user. A communication path from the terminal to the base station is also necessary, but if it is assumed that there is no need to send a large amount of information, the base station and the terminal can be used by having a narrowband bidirectional wireless channel. It ’s enough. In this way, if the wireless terminal has only a reception element as a broadband wireless channel, there is no need for a transmission system. Therefore, a transmission / reception system for a narrow band and a reception system for a broadband are not required. A terminal can be realized with the configuration, and a wireless communication system capable of multimedia service that achieves power saving and miniaturization of the terminal can be obtained.

  What has been developed based on such a concept is a super high speed down link (SDL) communication system. In an SDL communication system (for example, Patent Document 1), a wideband downlink radio channel (a radio channel for transmission from a base station side to a terminal side) and a narrowband bidirectional radio channel (uplink radio channel (uplink is a terminal) Side-to-base station side transmission radio channel) and downlink radio channel), narrowband bidirectional radio channel is used for communication with small amount of information such as voice and control information, and broadband downlink radio The channel is used to send a large amount of information from the base station to the wireless terminal.

In this way, the wireless terminal uses only receiving means for wideband use, and eliminates wideband transmitting means with high power consumption, thereby reducing the power consumption of the terminal.
See Japanese Patent Application No. 6-137621

  As described above, in order to realize a multimedia service, it is necessary to send a large amount of information at a high speed, and in order to realize such a multimedia service in a wireless communication system, a broadband high-speed wireless channel is required. It is.

  However, high-speed transmission using a wide band requires very large power. Usually, since the portable device on the terminal side uses a storage battery as a power source, if the power consumption increases, the terminal side always needs to be charged, and the usability becomes poor. Increasing the battery capacity of the terminal is also conceivable, but increasing the battery capacity will not only cost more, but will increase the size of the device and increase the weight, thereby impairing portability. Occurs.

  An SDL system has been proposed as a wireless communication system that solves such problems. In the SDL system, the broadband transmission means of the wireless terminal is eliminated, and the power consumption of the terminal is reduced. However, although the power consumption is not as great as that of the wideband transmission means, the use of the wideband reception means seems to be modest in order to realize power saving because of the wideband reception means.

  That is, the wideband receiving means consumes more power than the narrowband transmitting / receiving means, and therefore, it is desirable to eliminate operations other than during reception from the viewpoint of power saving.

The present invention aims no line terminal you allow further reduce power consumption of the portable device in the terminal, and to provide the power control method.

A power control method according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a means for checking the presence of a packet being transmitted before transmitting a packet, a means for transmitting a packet when there is no packet being transmitted, and a packet being transmitted. A power control method for a wireless terminal comprising means for waiting for transmission of a packet for a predetermined time and means for measuring the predetermined time, and if it is determined to wait for transmission, During this period, the power is turned off.
A power control method according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: means for receiving a transmission control signal for controlling packet transmission from a radio base station; means for determining whether to transmit a packet; A method for controlling the power supply of a wireless terminal, comprising means for turning off the power when it is determined not to turn on and turning on the power after a predetermined time has elapsed, and whether to transmit a packet when a transmission control signal is received again It is characterized by judging. Therefore, the wireless terminal can reduce power consumption.

(1) A wireless terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a means for checking whether a packet is being transmitted before transmitting the packet; a means for transmitting a packet when there is no packet being transmitted; Means for waiting for transmission of a packet for a predetermined time when there is a packet, and means for measuring the predetermined time. It is characterized by turning off.

(2) A wireless terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a means for receiving a transmission control signal for controlling packet transmission from a wireless base station; a determination means for determining whether to transmit a packet;
Means for turning off the power when it is determined not to transmit a packet, and turning on the power after a predetermined time has elapsed, and the determination means determines whether or not to transmit the packet when receiving a transmission control signal again. It is characterized by judging.

  According to the present invention, the wireless terminal can reduce power consumption.

  [Configuration of Radio Communication System] A specific example of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  First, the configuration of a wireless communication system necessary for realizing the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing the configuration of a system according to the present invention, which is a configuration taking an SDL system as an example. In FIG. 1, 301 is a wireless terminal (wireless mobile station), 302 is a broadband wireless base station, and 303 is a narrowband wireless base station. Reference numeral 305 denotes a server (or database) for providing a predetermined service such as storing a large amount of information and providing the information. These broadband wireless base station 302, narrowband wireless base station 303, and server 305 are a network. 306 is connected.

  The broadband wireless base station 302 is a base station having wireless transmission means using a broadband wireless channel, and does not include a broadband receiving means. Since the transmission is performed in a wide band, the use frequency is a short wavelength and the service area is narrow.

  The narrowband wireless base station 303 is a base station having wireless transmission / reception means using a narrowband wireless channel. Since the transmission is performed in a narrow band, a frequency having a relatively long wavelength can be used, so that the service area can be widened with a small amount of power. The wireless terminal 301 includes a broadband wireless channel reception unit and a narrowband wireless channel transmission / reception unit, but does not include a broadband wireless channel transmission unit.

  Although not shown in FIG. 1, the broadband wireless base station 302 is provided with a buffer for temporarily storing information to be transmitted. A wireless terminal 301 that is a wireless mobile station is a terminal that receives information from the broadband wireless base station 302 and transmits / receives information to / from the narrowband wireless base station 303.

  In FIG. 1, for convenience, the broadband wireless base station 302 and the narrowband wireless base station 303 are distinguished, but one wireless base station transmits and receives narrowband information transmission and broadband information transmission. It is also possible to adopt a configuration including both of the transmission means. In this case, although the cost of the radio base station increases, the total number of radio base stations in the entire system can be reduced. Further, when it is necessary to perform control between the transmission / reception means for narrowband information transmission and the transmission means for wideband information transmission, there is an advantage that the control becomes easy.

  Hereinafter, a specific example of the present invention will be described using the configuration of FIG. 1 in which the broadband wireless base station 302 and the narrowband wireless base station 303 are different wireless base stations. The wireless terminal 301 is located in the service area of both the narrowband wireless base station 303 and the broadband wireless base station 302, and information can be transmitted and received between the wireless terminal 301 and the narrowband wireless base station 303. Yes, it is assumed that information from the broadband wireless base station 302 to the wireless terminal 301 can be received.

  A first specific example of the present invention in which battery saving is intended for a wireless communication system having such a system configuration will be described.

  (First Specific Example) FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a configuration example of the wireless terminal 301. In FIG. 2, 301 is a wireless terminal of the present invention. 101 is a narrowband transmission / reception means, 102 is a wideband reception means, 103 is a control unit, 104 is a narrowband transmission / reception antenna, 105 is a reception antenna for wideband, and the wireless terminal 301 of the present invention is composed of such components. Has been.

  Among these, the narrowband transmission / reception means 101 demodulates the signal received from the narrowband transmission / reception antenna 104, modulates transmission information, and wirelessly transmits it from the narrowband transmission / reception antenna 104 using a narrowband radio wave. Yes, the control unit 103 receives the information demodulated and output from the narrowband transmission / reception unit 101 and analyzes the content. If the analyzed content is a command content for turning off the power of the wideband reception unit 102, the control unit 103 When the power of the receiving means 102 is turned off and the analysis result is a command content for turning on the power of the wideband receiving means 102, the power of the wideband receiving means 102 is turned on.

  The broadband receiving means 102 demodulates the received signal of the broadband radio wave received from the antenna 105, and is configured to be turned off by the control of the control unit 103.

  The radio terminal 301 of the present invention having such a configuration demodulates the signal received from the narrowband transmission / reception antenna 104 by the narrowband transmission / reception means 101, sends it to the control unit 103, and analyzes the contents. If the analyzed content is content for turning off the power of the broadband receiving means 102, the control unit 103 turns off the power of the broadband receiving means 102. Similarly, if the analysis result indicates that the broadband receiving unit 102 is turned on, the control unit 103 turns on the broadband receiving unit 102.

  Therefore, the wireless terminal 301 having such a configuration can be automatically controlled so that the power of the broadband receiving means 102 is turned off at the end of reception by the control from the base station side.

  For example, when there is information desired from the server 305, the user of the wireless terminal 301 operates to send a signal for requesting the desired information to the narrowband wireless base station 303 after turning on the broadband receiving means 102. To do.

  As a result, the wireless terminal 301 sends a signal for requesting the desired information to the narrowband transmitting / receiving unit 101, modulated by the narrowband transmitting / receiving unit 101, and transmitted as a narrowband radio wave from the antenna 104. This narrowband radio wave is received by the narrowband radio base station 303.

  The narrowband radio base station 303 transmits this information request signal to the server 305 through the network 307. The server 305 causes the broadband wireless base station 302 in the service area of the narrowband wireless base station 303 where the wireless terminal 301 is located to notify information (referred to as a base station ID) for identifying the own station.

  The wireless terminal 301 receives the broadcasted base station ID of the broadband wireless base station 302, and interprets the broadband wireless base station 302 suitable for connection with its own station from the signal strength thereof. Then, the interpretation result is transmitted to the server 305 via the narrowband radio base station 303.

  As a result, the server 305 can know which broadband wireless base station 302 is located in the service area of the wireless terminal 301. Further, in this way, the broadband wireless base station 302 does not always have to notify the base station ID, and the broadband terminal 102 need only be turned on only when the wireless terminal 301 wants to receive service.

  Therefore, the power consumption of both the wireless terminal 301 and the broadband wireless base station 302 can be suppressed. In addition, since the broadband wireless base station 302 does not always report the base station ID, interchannel interference with other broadband wireless base stations 302 can be reduced.

  Now, the server 305 that has recognized that the wireless terminal 301 is located within the service area of the broadband wireless base station 302 transmits information requested by the wireless terminal 301 to the broadband wireless base station 302 via the network 306. The broadband wireless base station 302 temporarily holds the information sent from the server 305 in its own buffer, and then transmits the information to the wireless terminal 301 using the broadband downlink wireless channel.

  By the way, as a transmission method in the network 306, ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) or the like can be cited. In ATM, information is transmitted discontinuously on a cell basis. For this reason, since information input to the buffer of the broadband wireless base station 302 becomes intermittent, there is no information to be transmitted to the wireless terminal 301 in the buffer. In addition, when traffic on the network 306 is congested, the information transmission rate from the server 305 to the buffer is lower than the information transmission rate from the buffer to the wireless terminal 301. As a result, the wireless terminal 301 is in the buffer. The information to be sent to is lost.

  Note that the information stored in the buffer of the broadband wireless base station 302 is information addressed to a plurality of wireless terminals 301. Therefore, here, it means that there is no transmission information for a certain wireless terminal 301, and all transmission information in the buffer is not necessarily lost.

  The wireless terminal 301 having no information addressed to itself in the buffer does not receive any information even when the power of the broadband receiving means 102 is turned on, and is merely wasting power.

  Therefore, in the present invention, when there is no more thing to be transmitted to the buffer of the broadband wireless base station 302, the broadband wireless base station 302 transmits information that informs the wireless terminal 301 that there is no information to be transmitted in the buffer. A function of notifying the wireless base station 303, and when the notification is received by the narrowband wireless base station 303, a function of wirelessly transmitting an instruction signal to turn off the power of its own broadband receiving means to the wireless terminal 301 Is given.

  Therefore, when there is no transmission information in the buffer, the broadband wireless base station 302 notifies the narrowband wireless base station 303 of this (S1 to S3 in FIG. 3). Is used to transmit an instruction signal for turning off the power of the broadband receiving means to the wireless terminal 301. It should be noted that a signal instructing to turn off the power of the broadband receiving means 102 of the wireless terminal 301 directly using the broadband downlink radio channel without using the narrowband radio base station 303 is used. It is also possible to adopt a configuration for transmission. In this case, the procedure is as shown in S1, S2, and S3a of FIG. 4, and the broadband radio base station 302 directly transmits the instruction signal using the broadband downlink radio channel as shown in S3a with respect to S3 of FIG. The difference is.

  An instruction signal for turning off the power of the broadband receiving unit is received by the antenna 104, transmitted to the narrowband transmitting / receiving unit 101, demodulated, and input to the control unit 103.

  The control unit 103 of the wireless terminal 301 interpreting the signal turns off the power of the broadband receiving means 102 (S4 and S5 in FIG. 3; the processing on the terminal side is the same when the procedure in FIG. 4 is followed) Processing (see S4 and S5 in FIG. 4)).

  Thereafter, when it is interpreted that information to be transmitted has entered the buffer of the broadband wireless base station 302, the broadband wireless base station 302 notifies the narrowband wireless base station 303 of this (see S11 to S13 in FIG. 5). ). Upon receiving this, the narrowband radio base station 303 transmits a signal instructing to turn on the broadband receiving means 102 of the radio terminal 301 using the narrowband downlink radio channel.

  The wireless terminal 301 receives this by the antenna 104 and sends it to the narrowband transmission / reception means 101 for demodulation. And it inputs into the control part 103. FIG. The control unit 103 of the wireless terminal 301 interpreting the signal knows that the signal is an instruction to turn on the power of the broadband receiving unit 102 of the wireless terminal 301 and turns on the power of the broadband receiving unit 102 again. Then, it is set to receive information sent from the broadband wireless base station 302 (see S14 and S15 in FIG. 5).

  As a result, the wireless terminal 301 can turn off the power of the broadband receiving means 102 when there is no information to be transmitted to the mobile station in the buffer of the broadband wireless base station 302, and the wireless terminal 301 is wasted. Power consumption can be reduced.

  Further, in the above example, when there is no information to be transmitted in the buffer of the broadband wireless base station 302, an example in which a signal instructing to turn off the broadband receiving means 102 of the wireless terminal 301 is immediately transmitted. However, if it is possible to immediately recognize that information from the server 305 enters the buffer of the broadband wireless base station 302 by using some means, the power of the broadband receiving means 102 of the wireless terminal 301 is not necessarily used. There is no need to send a signal instructing to turn off.

  The broadband wireless base station 302 is provided with means for determining whether the broadband receiving means 102 of the wireless terminal 301 is turned on or off, and switches on / off the power of the broadband receiving means 102 of the wireless terminal 301 as follows. You can also

  For example, the power on / off of the broadband receiving means 102 of the wireless terminal 301 may be determined based on whether or not the information to be transmitted in the buffer of the broadband wireless base station 302 exceeds a predetermined amount. Further, when the state in which there is no information to be transmitted in the buffer of the broadband wireless base station 302 continues for a predetermined time or longer, it may be determined that the broadband receiving means 102 of the wireless terminal 301 is turned off.

  In this way, it is possible to reduce the power consumption of the wireless terminal 301 and reduce the amount of signals instructing to turn on / off the power of the broadband receiving means 102.

  Further, in the above specific example, the wireless terminal 301 interprets the broadband wireless base station 302 suitable for connection with its own station, and after the interpretation result is transmitted to the server 305, the broadband receiving means 102 is turned on. It remained. That is, the wireless terminal 301 remains powered on after the location registration.

  However, the power of the broadband receiving means 102 may be turned off immediately after the location registration. In this case, the broadband wireless base station 302 transmits a signal instructing to turn on the broadband receiving means 102 of the wireless terminal 301 after the information to be transmitted enters the buffer 304. Thereby, the power consumption of the wireless terminal 301 can be further suppressed.

  In the above specific example, the broadband wireless base station 302 notifies the wireless terminal 301 of a signal for instructing on / off of the wireless terminal 301, but the broadband base station 302 receives information to be transmitted in the buffer 304 to the wireless terminal 301. It is only necessary to notify a signal indicating how much exists or whether there is information to be transmitted. In this case, the control unit 103 of the wireless terminal 301 determines whether the broadband receiving unit 102 is powered on and off, and notifies the broadband wireless base station 302 of the power on / off state of the broadband receiving unit 102. The power consumption of the wireless terminal 301 can be suppressed.

  3 shows the operation sequence of the system according to the procedure of FIG. 3, FIG. 8 shows the operation sequence of the system according to the procedure of FIG. 4, and FIG. 9 shows the operation sequence of the system according to the procedure of FIG. FIG. 10 shows an operation sequence of the system according to the procedure of FIG. 7 and 8 are sequences related to control for power-off, and FIGS. 9 and 10 are sequences related to control for power-on.

  In FIG. 7, the information 900 sent from the server is temporarily held in a buffer in the broadband base station and transmitted through a broadband wireless channel. The information 900 sent from the server to the broadband base station is transmitted. If the buffer for the broadband base station becomes empty, the broadband base station sends a signal 901 to the narrowband base station to instruct to turn off the broadband receiving means of the terminal. The narrowband base station transmits this to the terminal through a narrowband radio channel.

  In the operation sequence of FIG. 8, the information 900 sent from the server is temporarily held in a buffer in the broadband base station and is transmitted on the broadband wireless channel. The information 900 is sent from the server to the broadband base station. When the incoming information 900 is not in time and the buffer for the broadband base station is empty, the broadband base station itself turns off the broadband receiving means of the terminal directly instead of the narrowband base station. A signal 901 indicating that is sent. That is, the broadband base station directly transmits this instruction to the terminal through the broadband wireless channel without going through the narrowband base station.

  In the operation sequence of FIG. 9, when the information 900 is transmitted from the server to the wideband base station buffer that has been emptied, the wideband base station recognizes this and recognizes the wideband receiving means of the terminal. A signal 902 instructing to turn on the power is generated and sent to the base station for narrow band. The narrowband base station transmits this to the terminal through a narrowband radio channel. Thereafter, the broadband base station transmits information 900 from the server stored in its own buffer through the broadband wireless channel.

  In the operation sequence shown in FIG. 10, when the information 900 is transmitted from the server to the wideband base station buffer that has been emptied, the wideband base station recognizes this and recognizes the broadband reception means of the terminal. A signal 902 instructing to turn on the power is generated and sent to the base station for narrow band. The narrowband base station transmits this to the terminal through a narrowband radio channel.

  Upon receiving this, the terminal side receives it, recognizes the content of the instruction, and turns on the power of its own broadband receiving means. Then, on the terminal side, a response signal 903 is sent from the narrowband transmission / reception means, and the narrowband base station receiving it sends this response signal 903 to the wideband base station. The broadband base station receives this, and thereafter, the broadband base station transmits information 900 from the server stored in its own buffer through the broadband wireless channel.

  In this specific example, as shown in FIGS. 7 to 10, when the transmission information 900 addressed to a certain terminal is emptied without being transmitted in time, that is, the buffer of the broadband base station. In addition, when there is no transmission information 900 addressed to a certain terminal, there are two cases in which the power of the receiving means for broadband of the certain terminal is turned off, and transmission information 900 addressed to a certain terminal arrives from the server. When transmission becomes possible again, that is, when transmission information 900 addressed to a certain terminal arrives in the buffer of the broadband base station, the reception of the broadband receiving means of the certain terminal is turned on to resume reception. Two types of cases are shown as variations of operation control.

  By the way, as shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 9, when the broadband base station transmits a power-on instruction signal and then performs a control operation to resume information transmission without confirming power-on from the terminal, Although the control for restarting transmission is extremely simple, the broadband wireless base station is in spite of the fact that the power of the broadband receiving means of the wireless terminal is turned off, because of the relationship of unilateral control operation from the broadband wireless base station. Information may be transmitted. In this case, since there is no ACK (response) signal from the wireless terminal even if the information is transmitted, the information must be transmitted once again, and unnecessary transmission increases, resulting in an increase in traffic on the wireless channel. End up.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 10, after the wireless terminal 301 turns on the power of the broadband receiving means of its own station (see S15 in FIG. 6), it indicates that the power of the broadband receiving means is turned on. If a procedure such as notifying the station is performed (see S16 in FIG. 6), although the control becomes complicated, the broadband wireless base station recognizes that the wireless terminal has turned on the power of the broadband receiving means. Information can be transmitted. Therefore, useless information transmission can be eliminated. Therefore, traffic can be reduced because there is no useless information transmission.

  If the broadband wireless base station is provided with a means for storing whether the power of the broadband receiving means of the wireless terminal is on or off, information transmission control can be easily managed in the broadband wireless base station. .

  Here, FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the wireless terminal 301 that enables on / off control of the power of the broadband receiving means. In the figure, 101 is a narrow-band transmission / reception means, and 103 is a control unit. BT is a battery as a power source of the terminal, and the narrow band transmitting / receiving means 101, the control unit 103, and the broadband receiving means operate by receiving power supply by the battery BT.

  The broadband receiving means is composed of the following elements. That is, the filters 910 and 912, the down converter 911, the demodulator 913, the codec 914, and the power on / off switches SW0 to SW4.

  Among these, the filter 910 is for removing noise, and is for extracting the signal by removing noise in the wideband received signal received by the antenna. The down-converter 911 is for converting the carrier frequency from a high frequency to a low frequency, and converts the received signal obtained through the filter 910 into a low-frequency signal.

  The filter 912 is for selecting a reception signal frequency-converted through the down converter 911, and is a channel selection filter for reducing interference from adjacent channels. The demodulator 913 is for demodulating the received signal obtained through the filter 912, and the codec 914 is for decoding the received signal demodulated by the demodulator 913.

  In this wireless terminal, the down converter 911, the demodulator 913, the codec 914, and the filter 912 are operated by receiving power from the battery BT via the corresponding power on / off switches SW1 to SW4. In order to automatically control the power supply, the power on / off switches SW1 to SW4 are configured to open and close the switches by the control signal of the control unit 103. The control unit 103 sends the power off instruction signal via the narrowband transmission / reception means 101. Alternatively, the power supply on / off switches SW1 to SW4 are controlled to be turned off when received via the codec 914, and when the power on instruction signal is received via the codec 914, the power on / off switches SW0 to SW4 are interpreted. This is a configuration for on-control.

  With such a configuration, when a wireless terminal user wants to receive information from a server or the like, the request is sent to the base station side via the narrowband transmission / reception means 101. When the operation is performed, the control unit Reference numeral 103 denotes a control mode in which the power on / off switches SW0 to SW4 are kept off.

  Then, the base station that has received this request performs control to take in information from the server, and when the information is sent from the server, the broadband base station once holds it in its own buffer. Then, the broadband base station controls to transmit a power-on instruction signal. As a result, a power-on instruction signal is sent from the narrowband base station, and this signal is decoded and supplied to the control unit 103. The control unit 103 interprets this and turns on the power on / off switches SW0 to SW4. To control.

  As a result, the power on / off switches SW0 to SW4 are turned on, and the down converter 911, demodulator 913, codec 914, and filter 912 are supplied with power from the battery BT via the corresponding power on / off switches SW0 to SW4 and start operating. .

  The broadband base station transmits the information once stored in its own buffer through the broadband wireless channel. This is down-converted on the terminal side, a received signal is selected by the filter 912, demodulated by the demodulator 913, and decoded by the codec 914 to obtain information.

  When there is no more information to be transmitted to its own buffer, the broadband base station outputs a power-off command signal, which is transmitted from the narrowband base station or the broadband base station.

  Since this signal is received on the terminal side, decoded and applied to the control unit 103, the control unit 103 interprets this and controls to turn off the power on / off switches SW0 to SW4.

  As a result, the power on / off switches SW0 to SW4 are turned off, and the down converter 911, demodulator 913, codec 914, and filter 912 open their corresponding power on / off switches SW0 to SW4 and no power is supplied from the battery BT. Stop. As a result, the broadband receiving means is stopped and power consumption is eliminated. Since the narrowband transmission / reception means 101 continues to receive power supply from the battery BT, the power supply on / off switches SW0 to SW4 that receive a command to turn on the power from the base station are turned on, and the reception operation by the wideband reception means is performed. Be started.

  In this way, the broadband receiving means is configured to be able to save power by turning off the power when there is no information to be transmitted from the transmitting side.

  The filters 910 and 912 used in the present invention are active filters that require a power source, but of course, passive filters that do not require a power source may be used.

  Further, in the present invention, the functional configuration for monitoring the status of transmission information on the base station side, generating a power-on command, and giving it to the narrowband base station is performed by the control means provided in the base station. However, in addition to a configuration in which the base station has such a function, a control station that controls a broadband base station or a narrowband base station may be provided and the base station may be managed and controlled by the control station. An example of this is shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 12, A1 is a broadband base station, A2 is its service area, A6 is a narrowband base station, A7 is its service area, A3 is a control station for the broadband base station, and all broadband in the service area A7. It manages and controls the base station A1. A8 is a control station that controls the narrowband base station A6 that is responsible for the service area A7, and the control station A8 and the control station A3 are linked.

  With such a configuration, it becomes easy to perform cooperative control on the wireless terminals in the service area A7 by the control station A8 and the control station A3, and to perform unified management. That is, the control station A3 manages the broadband base station A1, performs control corresponding to the situation, gives commands and information to the control station A8 as necessary, and sends the instructions to the wireless terminal via the narrowband base station A6. The control station A3 sends a command to the wireless terminal via the narrowband base station A6 by obtaining information on the wireless terminal including power supply information and various requests from the control station A8, It becomes easy to send commands and information via the base station A1.

  Although the present invention has been described by taking the SDL communication system using the broadband wireless channel and the narrowband wireless channel as an example, the wireless terminal includes only the bidirectional communication using the broadband wireless channel or the bidirectional communication using the narrowband wireless channel. It can be applied to the power saving configuration. An example will be described with reference to FIG.

  In the figure, reference numeral 103 denotes a control unit. BT is a battery as a power source of the terminal, and the control unit 103, the transmission unit, and the reception unit operate by receiving power supply by the battery BT. SW0 to SW7 are power on / off switches.

  Reference numeral 910 denotes a filter for removing noise. 911 is a down converter for converting the carrier frequency from a high frequency to a low frequency. 912 is a channel selection filter for reducing interference from adjacent channels. These 910 to 912 constitute a receiving system.

  A modem 915 demodulates the received signal and modulates the transmission signal. Reference numeral 914 denotes a codec that encodes a transmission signal and applies the encoded signal to the modem 915, and decodes the reception signal demodulated and output from the modem 915.

  Reference numeral 916 denotes a filter for waveform shaping. Reference numeral 917 denotes an up-converter that converts the carrier frequency from a low frequency to a high frequency. Reference numerals 916, 917, and 919 constitute a transmission system. Reference numeral 918 denotes a duplexer which is essential when the transmission method is FDD (Frequency Division Duplex), and prevents the transmission signal from interfering with the reception signal, and conversely, the reception signal from interfering with the transmission signal. When the transmission method is TDD (Time Division Duplex), a switch is used instead of a duplexer. The switch prevents the transmission signal and the reception signal from colliding in time. Again, the codec 914 may not be present.

  A timer 919 gives time information to the control unit 103.

  In this wireless terminal, the filters 910, 912, 916, 919, down converter 911, modulator / demodulator 915, codec 914, and up converter 917 receive power supply from the battery BT via the corresponding power on / off switches SW0 to SW7, It is a mechanism that works.

  Here, the filters 910, 912, 916, and 919 will be described by taking an active filter that requires a power source as an example, but of course, a passive filter that does not require a power source may be used.

  In order to automatically control the power supply, the power on / off switches SW0 to SW7 are configured to be opened and closed by a control signal from the control unit 103. When the control unit 103 receives the power off instruction signal via the codec 914, , The power on / off switches SW0 to SW7 are turned off to supply power, and then the timer 919 is used to turn on / off the power on / off switches SW1, SW3 and SW5 periodically or non-periodically, and The power on command from the base station is monitored, and if there is a power on command from the base station, the power on / off switches SW1, SW3, SW5 are turned off and the power on / off switches SW0, SW2, SW4 are turned on to operate the transmission system. Send a response signal to the base station, and then turn off the power on / off switches SW0, SW2 and SW4. To the transmission system is powered off, there the power on-off switch SW1, SW3, SW5 and turns on the reception system as a configuration for performing control such that operational.

  In this configuration, the modem 915 and the codec 914 are turned on during use, and when a reception request is made, the filters 910 and 912 that are reception systems are turned on, and the up converter 917 that is a transmission system is turned on. The filter 916 is turned off, and when transmitting, the transmission system is turned on, and the reception system is turned off.

  When the control unit 103 receives a power-off instruction signal from the base station via the codec 914, the control unit 103 interprets the received signal and controls the power-on / off switches SW1 to SW7 to be turned off. The power on / off switches SW1, SW3, SW5 to SW7 are periodically turned on / off to wait for a power on command from the base station.

  If the power on command is received from the base station during the period when the power on / off switches SW1, SW3, SW5 to SW7 are on, the power on / off switches SW1, SW3, SW5 are turned off and the power on / off switches SW0, SW2, SW4 are on. Then, the transmission system is put into an operating state, a response signal is sent to the base station, and then the power on / off switches SW0, SW2, SW4 are turned off to turn off the transmission system, and the power on / off switches SW1, SW3, SW5 are turned on. Enable the receiving system to receive the received signal.

  As described above, in the first specific example, when there is no information to be transmitted from the transmission side by the broadband wireless channel, the broadband receiving unit is turned off to save power in order to save power of the broadband receiving unit. An example has been described that can be achieved. In addition, in a configuration having only one transmission / reception system, when a power-off command is received, the wireless terminal is powered off, only the timer is activated, and the reception system is turned on periodically or non-periodically. To reduce power consumption by monitoring

  Further, when the base station is equipped with some means so that the next transmission time can be predicted, the base station sends a power-off command and instructs the power-off time. As a result, the wireless terminal can turn on the reception system without waste, so that effective power saving can be achieved.

  Next, if the configuration is such that the remaining amount of the battery can be confirmed or whether or not reception via a broadband wireless channel is possible, the usability is further improved. This example will be described as a second specific example.

  (Second Specific Example) In this example, the wireless terminal 301 checks the remaining battery level of its own station, and displays the result on the display DSP provided in the wireless terminal 301 in a representation method that can be recognized by humans. The display methods are roughly classified into two types as shown in FIG.

  As a first method, there is a method of displaying the remaining battery level in stages, and an example is shown in FIG. In this example, the remaining amount of the battery is divided into four stages of a fully charged state, a remaining amount of half, a remaining amount of low, and a battery running out, and symbols can be respectively displayed.

  The configuration for this can be as shown in FIG. In FIG. 15, 104 is a transmission / reception antenna for narrowband, 105 is a reception antenna for wideband, 101 is a narrowband transmission / reception means, 102 is a broadband reception means, 103 is a control unit, and BT is a battery. The narrowband transmitting / receiving means 101, the wideband receiving means 102, and the control unit 103 operate using the battery BT as a power source. The broadband receiving means 102 is supplied with power from the battery BT via a switch SW whose opening / closing is controlled by the control unit 103.

  The battery remaining amount detection device BD detects the remaining amount of the battery BT. When the detection result is V, the control unit 103 determines the battery remaining amount display method according to the conditions shown in FIG. The battery remaining amount display device DSP displays the determination result of the control unit 103.

  As a result, the symbol I indicating the capacity state is displayed on the battery remaining amount display device DSP according to the remaining amount of the battery BT, and the user can recognize the power state at a glance.

  In addition, for example, a speaker is provided and the control unit 103 is provided with an alarm notification control function. When the remaining amount of the battery BT is considerably reduced, a warning sound is output from the speaker or a screen display is used. And it can also comprise so that a user may be charged or replacement of a storage battery.

  As a second method, a method for displaying whether or not transmission / reception with the narrowband radio base station 303 is possible and whether information from the wideband radio base station 302 can be received according to the remaining battery level is displayed. There is. An example is shown in FIG. Here, it is divided into low-speed transmission (communication using a narrowband wireless channel) and high-speed transmission (communication using a wideband wireless channel), and “O” is displayed if communication is possible, and “x” is displayed if communication is not possible. I made it.

  The functions required for this are shown in FIG. Basically, the configuration is the same as that shown in FIG. 15, and a display device DSP is provided which displays communication possible / impossible display instead of the previous symbol display. However, it is divided into low-speed transmission (communication using a narrowband wireless channel) and high-speed transmission (communication using a wideband wireless channel). If communication is possible from the remaining battery level detected by the remaining battery level detection device BD, “O” is set. Since it is necessary to perform control so as to display “x” mark if possible, the control unit 103 has the detected remaining battery level V, the threshold level V1 of the voltage capable of high-speed transmission, and the voltage capable of low-speed transmission. Compared with the threshold level V0, it is judged whether it is possible / impossible in light of the conditions as shown in FIG. 18, and control is performed to display “O” if possible and “x” if impossible. Configured.

  When the remaining amount of the battery is low, how long can the information from the broadband wireless base station 302 be received, or how long can the information be transmitted to and received from the narrowband wireless base station 303. Can also be displayed. Further, by providing means for checking the time required for the server 305 to transmit the requested information and transmitting it to the wireless terminal 301, the wireless terminal 301 can respond to the remaining battery level of its own station. It is also possible to display whether or not all requested information can be received.

  By doing so, the user can know the remaining amount of the battery and know what service can be received for how long, so the comfort of operation of the wireless terminal 301 is improved. be able to.

  (Third Specific Example) An example in which the result of detecting the remaining battery level of the wireless terminal 301 is notified to the base station side to prevent unnecessary transmission will be described.

  The wireless terminal 301 checks the remaining battery level of its own station, and determines whether or not there is sufficient power to receive information transmitted through the broadband downlink wireless channel. If there is not enough power to receive the information transmitted by the broadband downlink radio channel, this is communicated to the narrowband radio base station 303 using the narrowband uplink radio channel.

  The narrowband wireless base station 303 transmits the information to the server 305 or the broadband wireless base station 302 via the network 306. When transmitted to the server 305, the server 305 stops transmission of information to the broadband wireless base station 302 and also instructs the broadband wireless base station 302 to stop transmitting information to the wireless terminal 301. Send. The broadband wireless base station 302 stops transmitting information to the wireless terminal 301.

  When the information is transmitted to the broadband wireless base station 302, the transmission of information to the wireless terminal 301 is stopped, and a signal requesting to stop the transmission of information to the local station is sent to the server 305. The server 305 stops transmitting information to the broadband wireless base station 302.

  As a result, unnecessary transmission from the broadband wireless base station 302 to the wireless terminal 301 is eliminated, so that interchannel interference with other broadband wireless base stations 302 can be reduced, and power consumption of the broadband wireless base station 302 is suppressed. It becomes possible. Further, useless signal exchange between the broadband wireless base station 302 and the server 305 can be suppressed, and the network 306 can be used efficiently.

  (Fourth Specific Example) Next, an example of performing battery saving in the CSMA method will be described. Conventionally, in CSMA, the wireless terminal 401 is turned on even when packet transmission is not performed, and wasteful power is consumed. In the following example, a battery saving method in such a state will be described.

  First, the configuration of a wireless communication system targeted by the present invention will be described. FIG. 19 is a conceptual diagram showing the configuration of a system according to the present invention. In FIG. 19, 401 is a wireless terminal, 402 is a wireless base station, and a plurality of wireless base stations 402 are connected via a network 403. The wireless terminal 401 is a terminal that transmits / receives information to / from the wireless base station 402, and includes a timer having a function of turning on the power of the terminal after a set time has elapsed when activated.

  Below, an example is demonstrated using the example which made the transmission system from the radio | wireless terminal 401 to the wireless base station 402 the CSMA (Carier Sense Multiple Access) system. Here, CSMA refers to the presence or absence of a packet being transmitted before the wireless terminal 401 performs packet transmission, and performs packet transmission if there is no packet being transmitted, and packet transmission if there is a packet being transmitted. This is a transmission method in which a packet transmission is performed after a predetermined time has elapsed without performing transmission. However, in the conventional CSMA, the power of the wireless terminal 401 is on even when packet transmission is not performed, and wasteful power is consumed.

  Therefore, in the present invention, when it is determined that packet transmission is not performed, only the timer is operated, and the power supply of the terminal is turned off so that no other power is consumed. After a predetermined time has elapsed, the power is turned on when the timer expires, and the presence or absence of a packet being transmitted is checked again to determine whether or not to transmit a packet. The wireless terminal 401 determines how long the power is off and sets the time when the timer is started.

  By doing so, the wireless terminal 401 can prevent wasteful power consumption. Further, in the above specific example, an example in which the wireless terminal 401 determines whether or not to perform packet transmission is shown. However, the wireless base station 402 controls the packet transmission of the wireless terminal 401 as well. The invention can be applied.

  In this case, the radio base station 402 includes transmission control means for performing transmission control of the radio terminal 401 and means for notifying a transmission control signal determined by the transmission control means.

  The wireless terminal 401 interprets the transmission control signal notified from the wireless base station 402 and determines whether or not to perform transmission. The wireless terminal 401 that does not perform transmission turns off the power, turns on the power after a predetermined time has elapsed, interprets the transmission control signal broadcast from the wireless base station 402 again, and determines whether to perform transmission. To do.

  In addition, there are a method in which the wireless terminal 401 determines the time during which the power is turned off, and a method in which the wireless base station 402 determines and transmits the time to the wireless terminal 401. Although the latter increases the load on the radio base station 402, it is more effective for reducing the power consumption of the radio terminal 401 because the time during which the radio terminal 401 is turned off can be determined more appropriately.

  (Fifth Specific Example) In a communication system such as SDL, when there is no information to be transmitted from the transmission side by a wideband radio channel in order to save power of the wideband reception means, the wideband reception means has a power supply. In the first specific example, the example in which it is cut and power saving can be achieved has been described. However, this is a case where a communication terminal having a narrow-band transmission / reception means and a wide-band reception means is targeted, and it is necessary to use a narrow-band transmission / reception means that is integrated with transmission / reception for transmission. Because there is, there is a possibility that the battery saving of the system for the narrow band cannot be performed sufficiently.

  Therefore, a system that can sufficiently perform battery saving not only for a broadband system but also for a narrow band system will be described as a fifth specific example. In this example, the narrow band system is configured by separating and dividing the transmission means and the reception means, and the battery control means for controlling the power supply corresponding to the state is provided so that the wireless terminal uses the wide band reception means. When performing communication, the power of the receiving means for narrow band of the wireless terminal is controlled to be turned off.

  In other words, the fifth example is a wireless communication system having narrowband upper and lower (uplink / downlink) radio channels and a wideband downlink radio channel. When performing the communication, the control is performed to turn off the power of the narrow band receiving means of the wireless terminal.

  In addition, for battery saving of the broadband system, the power of the broadband receiving unit is not turned on until the battery control unit receives a power-on command from the radio base station side (network side).

  An example of the configuration of the wireless terminal 1000 according to the fifth specific example is shown in FIG. 1000 is a wireless terminal of the present invention. 1001 is a narrowband transmission / reception antenna, 1002 is a wideband reception antenna, 1003 is a control unit, 1004 is a battery control unit, 1005 is a narrowband reception unit, 1006 is a wideband reception unit, and 1007 is a narrowband transmission unit. The wireless terminal 1000 is composed of such components.

  Among these, the narrowband receiving means 1005 demodulates the signal received from the narrowband transmission / reception antenna 1001, and the narrowband transmission means 1007 modulates transmission information to transmit the narrowband radio wave from the narrowband transmission / reception antenna 1001. The control unit 1003 receives the information demodulated and output from the narrowband receiving means 1005, analyzes the contents, and performs corresponding control processing in response to the command.

  The battery control unit 1004 controls the supply of battery power to the control unit 1003, the narrow band receiving unit 1005, and the narrow band transmitting unit 1007. At the same time as the battery control unit 1004 turns on the power switch of the wireless terminal 1000, the battery control unit 1004 does not supply the battery to the broadband receiving means 1006, but from the transmission side such as a server on the network side. When there is an instruction, a function for controlling to supply the battery to the broadband receiving means 1006 is provided. This is because the power consumption of the wideband receiving unit 1006 is larger than that of the narrowband transmitting / receiving unit, so that the wasteful power consumption of the wideband receiving unit 1006 can be suppressed.

  The broadband receiving means 1006 demodulates the signal received from the broadband receiving antenna 1002, and the control unit 1003 receives the information demodulated and output from the broadband receiving means 1006 and analyzes the contents.

  When the user turns on the power switch of the wireless terminal 1000 of the present invention having such a configuration, the battery control unit 1004 supplies power from the battery to the control unit 1003, the narrowband receiving unit 1005, and the narrowband transmitting unit 1007. Then, under the control of the control unit 1003, a location registration request is issued from the narrowband transmission means 1007, and location registration is performed on the network side. Thus, a communication service can be received with the network side.

  Battery supply to the broadband receiving means 1006 may or may not be performed.

  In the case of a system that provides a service using the broadband receiving unit 1006 at the same time as turning on the power switch of the wireless terminal 1000, it is better to immediately supply the battery to the broadband receiving unit 1006.

  However, if this is not the case, the battery control unit 1004 should not supply the battery to the broadband receiving means 1006 at the same time as turning on the power switch of the wireless terminal 1000. This is because the power consumption of the wideband receiving means 1006 is larger than that of the narrowband transmitting / receiving means, and it is desired to suppress the wasteful power consumption of the wideband receiving means 1006.

  That is, it is preferable for power saving of the wireless terminal 1000 not to supply power from the battery until communication using the broadband receiving means 1006 is performed. Hereinafter, the present invention will be described for the case where the latter method is used.

  When performing communication using a broadband downlink channel, the wireless terminal 1000 supplies a battery to the broadband receiving unit 1006 and transmits a signal for requesting desired information to the narrowband wireless base station 303.

  The narrowband radio base station 303 transmits this information request signal to the server 305 through the network 306. The server 305 causes all broadband wireless base stations 302 within the service area of the narrowband wireless base station 303 where the wireless terminal 1000 is located to notify information (referred to as a base station ID) for identifying the own station.

  As another procedure, the wireless terminal 1000 first transmits a signal for requesting desired information to the narrowband wireless base station 303 without supplying a battery to the broadband receiving means 1006. The narrowband radio base station 303 transmits this information request signal to the server 305 through the network 306.

  The server 305 informs all the broadband wireless base stations 302 in the service area of the narrowband wireless base station 303 where the wireless terminal 1000 is located, and notifies the wireless terminal 1000 of the narrowband wireless base station 303. The broadband receiving means 1006 is instructed to turn on. Alternatively, before informing the base station ID of the broadband wireless base station 302, the server 305 instructs the broadband receiving means 1006 to be turned on via the narrowband wireless base station 303.

  Receiving this, the wireless terminal 1000 controls the battery control unit 1004 to supply the battery to the broadband receiving unit 1006. Thereafter, the server 305 is notified via the narrowband radio base station 303 that the broadband receiving means 1006 has been turned on. After confirming that the wireless terminal 1000 has turned on the power of the broadband receiving means 1006, the server 305 notifies the base station ID of the broadband wireless base station 302.

  Operation sequence diagrams for notifying the base station ID described here are as shown in FIGS. FIG. 21 is an operation sequence diagram in the case where a signal 2000 for requesting information is transmitted to the narrowband radio base station 303 after the battery is supplied to the broadband receiving means 1006.

  That is, in FIG. 21, when there is information desired from the server, the user of the wireless terminal transmits a signal 2000 requesting information from the terminal side to the narrowband wireless base station on the network side. 2000 is sent to the server, and the server sends a signal 2001 instructing the notification of the base station ID to the broadband wireless base station on the network side, and further receives the signal 2002 indicating the ID of the base station from the broadband wireless base station. The data is sent to the communication terminal that has made the above transmission request via the base station. In this example, the signals A and B are transmitted from the two broadband radio base stations to the terminal, respectively, because the service area of the broadband radio base station is narrow, and the narrow band radio base station whose location is registered by the radio terminal. By transmitting a signal 2001 from the two broadband wireless base stations A and B, which are part of the service area, to the terminal, the probability that the wireless terminal can receive this signal is increased. Yes. When the signal 2002 indicating the base station ID is received, the base station ID is used to enable communication via the base station.

  FIGS. 22 and 23 are operation sequence diagrams when a signal 2000 for requesting information is transmitted to the narrowband radio base station 303 without supplying a battery to the broadband receiving means 1006. However, in the operation sequence of FIG. 22, the base station ID of the broadband wireless base station 302 is notified without confirming that the wireless terminal 1000 has supplied the battery to the broadband receiving means 1006, whereas FIG. The operation sequence 23 is different in that the base station ID of the broadband wireless base station 302 is notified after the wireless terminal 1000 confirms that the battery has been supplied to the broadband receiving means 1006.

  That is, in FIG. 22, when there is information desired from the server, the user of the wireless terminal transmits the signal 2000 requesting information from the terminal side to the narrowband wireless base station on the network side. To the server, the server sends a signal 2001 instructing the notification of the base station ID to the broadband wireless base station on the network side, and further receives the signal 2002 indicating the ID of the base station from the broadband wireless base station. The data is sent to the communication terminal that has made the above transmission request via the base station.

  In this example, the server gives a signal 2003 instructing to turn on the broadband receiving means 1006 to the narrowband radio base station, and the narrowband radio base station receives this signal. 2003 is transmitted to the communication terminal side by narrowband radio. On the communication terminal side, by receiving the signal 2003 instructing to turn on the power of the broadband receiving means 1006 and turning on the power of the broadband receiving means 1006, information reception using the broadband radio wave can be performed.

  After the transmission of this signal 2003, the signal 2001 is sent from the two broadband wireless base stations A and B to the terminal.

  In this example, the communication terminal turns off the broadband receiving means until communication using broadband radio waves is required so as to save power. And a power-on instruction is sent using a narrowband radio base station having a wide service area, and then the base station ID is sent from the two broadband radio base stations A and B to the corresponding communication terminal. This is because the service area of the broadband wireless base station is narrow, and a part of the service area of the narrowband wireless base station registered by the wireless terminal is targeted for the service. , B By sending a signal 2001 to each of the two broadband wireless base stations to the terminal, the probability that the wireless terminal can receive this signal is increased. But, the same as in FIG. 21. When the signal 2002 indicating the base station ID is received, the base station ID is used to enable communication via the base station.

  In the example of FIG. 22, when there is information desired from the server, the user of the wireless terminal transmits a signal 2000 requesting information from the terminal side to the narrowband wireless base station on the network side. Before sending the signal 2001 for instructing the notification of the base station ID, the server first instructs the narrowband radio base station to turn on the power of the broadband receiving means 1006. 2003 is given.

  In response to this, the narrowband radio base station transmits the signal 2003 to the wireless terminal side by narrowband radio. On the wireless terminal side, by receiving the signal 2003 instructing to turn on the power of the broadband receiving means 1006 and turning on the power of the broadband receiving means 1006, it is possible to receive information using broadband radio waves.

  When the power of the wireless terminal side broadband receiving means 1006 is turned on, a signal 2004 notifying this is sent to the narrowband radio base station by narrowband radio, and the narrowband radio base station sends this to the server.

  When the server receives the signal 2004, the server next sends a signal 2001 for instructing notification of the base station ID to the two broadband wireless base stations A and B, and the broadband wireless base station that has received the signal 2001 transmits the ID of the base station. A signal 2002 is transmitted to the wireless terminal that has made the above transmission request via the base station.

  In this example, the wireless terminal turns off the broadband receiving means until communication using broadband radio waves is required so as to save power, and sends a command for turning on the power of the broadband receiving means to a network for transmitting information. And the power-on instruction is sent using a narrow-band radio base station with a wide service area, and after confirming that the power of the wide-band receiving means is turned on, A and B The broadband wireless base station sends a signal 2001 for informing the base station ID to the wireless terminal. When the signal 2002 indicating the base station ID is received, the base station ID is used to enable communication via the base station.

  Note that the method for reporting the base station ID described here is not limited to the present invention, and is a method applicable to all systems having narrow band upper and lower radio channels and wide band downlink radio channels.

  The wireless terminal 1000 receives the base station ID notified by the signal 2002 in the above procedure from the wideband receiving antenna 1002 and demodulates it by the wideband receiving means 1006. The demodulated signal is sent to the control unit 1003, and the control unit 1003 interprets the broadband wireless base station 302 that is suitable for connection with the own station. The interpreted result is transmitted by the narrowband transmitting means 1007 and transmitted to the server 305 via the narrowband radio base station 303.

  As a result, the server 305 can recognize in which service area of the broadband wireless base station 302 the wireless terminal 1000 is located, so that communication using the broadband downlink channel is possible.

  By the way, the wireless terminal 1000 performs location registration with respect to the broadband wireless base station 302, while controlling the battery control unit 1004 to stop the power supply from the battery to the narrowband receiving unit 1005, thereby communicating via the narrowband downlink channel. To stop. That is, wireless terminal 1000 uses narrowband transmission means 1007 and wideband reception means 1006 to perform communication using a narrowband upstream channel and a wideband downstream channel.

  In a system to which the present invention is applied, it is impossible to perform communication using both a narrow band and a wide band as a downlink channel. Since battery power is not supplied to the narrowband receiving means 1005 that is no longer needed, it is possible to significantly reduce average power consumption and reduce power consumption.

  (Sixth Specific Example) Next, a sixth specific example will be described. In this example, there is a radio terminal dedicated to narrowband transmission / reception as a radio terminal capable of both transmission and reception, and battery saving in the case where there is a separate communication terminal dedicated to wideband reception for wideband will be described as an example.

  The wireless terminal dedicated to narrowband transmission / reception is configured so that the transmission means and the reception means are separated and independent, and in order to achieve effective battery saving in the case of performing communication in cooperation using two wireless terminals, Like this.

  In the sixth specific example, there is only a radio terminal dedicated for narrowband transmission / reception as a radio terminal that allows both transmission and reception by the user, and battery saving in an example in which a radio terminal dedicated for wideband reception is additionally used for wideband use. FIG. 24 shows a configuration example of the first wireless terminal 2001 and the second wireless terminal 2002 related to this specific example.

  In the figure, 2001 and 2002 are wireless terminals to which the battery saving method of the present invention is applied, the wireless terminal 2001 is a wireless terminal for narrowband transmission / reception, and the wireless terminal 2002 is a wireless terminal for broadband reception.

  Reference numeral 2011 denotes a narrowband transmission / reception antenna, 2012a denotes a narrowband reception means, 2012b denotes a narrowband transmission means, 2013 denotes a control section, 2014 denotes a battery control section, and 2015 denotes a terminal section. 2001 is composed of such components.

  Among these, the narrowband receiving unit 2012a demodulates the signal received from the narrowband transmitting / receiving antenna 2011, and the control unit 2013 receives the information demodulated and output from the narrowband receiving unit 2012a. In addition to performing analysis, corresponding control processing is performed in response to a command.

  The narrowband transmission means 2012b modulates transmission information and wirelessly transmits the narrowband transmission / reception antenna 2011 using a narrowband radio wave.

  In the wireless terminal 2001 for narrowband transmission / reception having such a configuration, a battery saving method called intermittent reception in which the receiver is periodically operated or stopped is performed for power saving of the terminal. This intermittent reception is a technique that has been used conventionally, and will be described briefly with reference to FIG.

  The wireless terminals are divided into several groups, and the wireless channel through which the wireless base station transmits information to the wireless terminals is also time-divided into several frames.

  When a wireless base station transmits information to a wireless terminal, the information is transmitted in a frame assigned to a group to which the wireless terminal belongs. For example, a is a group to which the wireless terminal 2001 belongs. The battery control unit 2014 supplies the battery to the narrowband receiving unit 2012a in synchronization with the transmission period of 2300a which is a frame of the group to which the own station belongs, and operates the narrowband receiving unit 2012a. If the signal demodulated by the narrowband receiving means 2012a is analyzed by the control unit 2013 and the received signal is destined for the own station, the battery control unit 2014 operates the terminal unit 2015 to obtain the received signal. Send to terminal unit 2015.

  Thereafter, the control unit 2013 controls the battery control unit 2014 to stop the supply of the battery to the narrowband receiving unit 2012a until a period in which the frame 2300a of the next group a is transmitted. That is, the operation of the narrow band receiving unit 2012a is stopped. Intermittent reception is a battery saving method that saves power by such an operation.

  The terminal unit 2015 is a high-performance portable information terminal capable of information processing that can handle text, image information, audio information, and the like, and such a high-performance information processing terminal and a wireless device for narrowband transmission / reception are integrated. This is a structured.

  The battery control unit 2014 is built in the wireless terminal 2001, and compares the remaining battery levels of both wireless terminals 2001 and 2002 when the wireless terminal 2001 and the wireless terminal 2002 are connected to perform transmission and reception in cooperation. Thus, the wireless terminal 2001, 2002 has a function of controlling the battery power supply from the battery with the larger remaining amount.

  In FIG. 24, 2021 is a broadband receiving antenna, 2022 is broadband receiving means, 2023 is a control unit, and 2024 is a terminal unit. The radio terminal 2002 dedicated to broadband reception according to the present invention is composed of such elements. .

  Among these components, the broadband receiving means 2022 demodulates the signal received from the broadband receiving antenna 2021, and the demodulated output is sent to the control unit 2023 to analyze the contents.

  The terminal unit 2024 is a high-performance portable information terminal capable of information processing that can handle text, image information, audio information, and the like. In FIG. 24, such a terminal unit 2024 is integrated with the wireless terminal 2002. Although it is a thing, it is good also as a form which makes it a separate terminal and connects and uses as needed. Hereinafter, the present invention will be described using an integrated wireless terminal 2002 and terminal unit 2024 as shown in FIG.

  Since the wireless terminal 2001 has a narrow-band bidirectional channel, it is suitable for transmission / reception of voice and the like. Specifically, it is used as a mobile phone.

  Therefore, since the wireless terminal 2001 needs to receive an incoming call from another mobile phone, it is necessary for the mobile phone to increase the standby cycle in intermittent reception more than necessary, although the power consumption of the terminal is reduced. The comfort of operation will be significantly impaired. Therefore, the standby period needs to be set to a length that does not impair the comfort of operation as a mobile phone.

  On the other hand, the terminal unit 2024 in the broadband wireless terminal 2002 is a high-performance portable information terminal capable of information processing and the like, and is integrated with the wireless terminal 2002 having a broadband downlink channel. Information with a large amount of information can be received.

  However, since it does not have an uplink channel, it is not possible to receive a service in the form of requesting information from the wireless base station and receiving the service. Therefore, as a method for receiving such a service, there is a method of connecting and using the control unit 2013 of the wireless terminal 2001 for narrowband wireless communication and the control unit 2023 of the wireless terminal 2002 for broadband wireless communication.

  As a connection method between the wireless terminal 2001 for narrowband transmission / reception and the wireless terminal 2002 for wideband reception, in addition to a physical connection method, a wireless connection method using infrared rays or the like can be given.

  Among these, in the case of wireless connection using infrared rays, since it can be realized at low cost and physical connection is not required, there is no problem of increase in the capacity of the wireless terminal 2002. Further, if the wireless terminal 2001 is a card-type wireless terminal such as a PCMCIA card and can be connected to the wireless terminal 2002, the terminal is very easy to use because the capacity of the wireless terminal 2002 does not increase. It becomes.

  With respect to these connection methods, the same applies to the case where the wireless terminal 2002 for broadband reception and the terminal unit 2024 are separate terminals. For example, the wireless terminals 2001 and 2002 may be integrated or separate card-type terminals and may be inserted into the terminal unit 2024 and connected.

  The purpose of connecting the wireless terminal 2001 for narrowband transmission / reception and the wireless terminal 2002 for wideband reception is to connect information to the wireless base station, not to voice communication such as a telephone, It is to receive the service of obtaining.

  Therefore, even if the standby cycle in the narrowband receiving unit 2012a is changed to a cycle longer than that when used alone, the comfort of operation of the wireless terminal 2001 is never impaired. Rather, the narrowband receiving unit 2012a The average power consumption is considerably reduced, and the wireless terminal 2001 can be used continuously for a long time.

  Therefore, when the narrowband wireless terminal 2001 and the broadband wireless terminal 2002 are connected and used, the battery control unit 2014 should perform battery power supply in a cycle several times the reception standby cycle. Control, thereby reducing the power consumption of the wireless terminal 2001.

  For example, when the reception standby cycle is doubled, the wireless terminal 2002 belonging to the group a controls the battery control unit 2014 to perform battery power supply in synchronization with the transmission cycle of 2300a ′, and this reception standby cycle. The narrow-band receiving means 2012a is operated by intermittent power supply at intervals of twice (see FIG. 25 (b)).

  Note that this battery saving method can also be applied when a wireless terminal 2003 in which the wireless terminal 2001 and the wireless terminal 2002 are integrated is used. That is, even in the case of this integrated wireless terminal 2003, when the purpose of use of the user is not voice communication such as a telephone, but a service for requesting information to the wireless base station and obtaining the requested information is received. Changing and lengthening the standby cycle of the narrowband receiving unit 2012 reduces the average power consumption of the narrowband receiving unit 2012a and enables the wireless terminal 2003 to be used continuously for a long time. Therefore, also in this case, application of this battery saving method is effective for power saving.

  Note that there are various methods for supplying battery power when the wireless terminal 2001 for narrow band and the wireless terminal 2002 for broadband are connected and used. One method is to supply each battery with its own battery. In this case, since the battery power is supplied independently, there is an advantage that the control is easy, but the service cannot be received when one of the batteries runs out.

  As a second method, one of the terminals supplies battery power to both terminals.

  Although this method also has the advantage of being easy to control, it overcomes the disadvantage that if the terminal of the terminal supplying the battery runs out, it will not be possible to receive service even if the other battery remains It is not possible.

  Therefore, as a third method, a battery control unit that comprehensively controls the supply of battery power to at least one of the wireless terminal 2001 for narrowband transmission / reception and the wireless terminal 2002 for wideband reception. It is possible to compare the remaining battery levels of both terminals and supply a battery to both wireless terminals 2001 and 2002 when the remaining battery level is higher.

  In this specific example, a battery control unit 2014 is provided in the wireless terminal 2001 to comprehensively control the battery power supply of the wireless terminals 2001 and 2002. That is, the battery control unit 2014 of the wireless terminal 2001 compares the remaining battery levels of both the wireless terminals 2001 and 2002 and supplies battery power to the wireless terminals 2001 and 2002 from the battery with the larger remaining amount. To control.

  Although this method complicates the control, it is possible to prevent service interruption due to battery exhaustion of one of the terminals.

  In the third method, at least one of the terminals has a battery control unit that comprehensively controls the supply of the batteries of both terminals. It can also be controlled to increase the amount.

  Although various specific examples have been described above, in short, the present invention is applicable to a wideband wireless channel capable of high-speed transmission but with high power consumption, and narrowband with only low-speed transmission but low power consumption. In a wireless communication system such as an SDL transmission system that performs communication using both of the wireless channels, information to be transmitted from the transmission side by the wireless channel in order to save power when receiving transmission from the base station If there is no power, the receiver side turns off the power by the power-off command from the transmitting side, only monitors the power-on command from the transmitting side, and when it receives the power-on command, it activates the receiving system to save power It is designed to be able to plan.

  Therefore, power saving of the portable terminal can be promoted.

  In addition, the remaining battery level is checked so that symbols are displayed according to the remaining battery level, or the remaining battery level is compared with the reference value for the battery capacity required for transmission / reception. It was made to inform whether or not. According to this, since whether or not transmission / reception can be performed can be known in advance, it is possible to prevent a trouble that the battery runs out during communication.

  In addition, the base station side is notified of the result of detecting the remaining battery level of the wireless terminal so that useless transmission is not performed. As a result, it is possible to eliminate the case where the wireless terminal runs out of battery and cannot be received.

  Further, when the wireless terminal observes the channel usage state and determines that transmission is not performed, control is performed to turn off the wireless terminal for a predetermined time. Thereby, it becomes possible to achieve power saving of the portable wireless terminal.

  Furthermore, in the SDL communication system, in order to enhance the battery saving effect of the communication terminal for SDL communication, when the wireless terminal performs communication using the broadband receiving means, the wireless base station side (network side) The broadband receiving means is not turned on until a power on command is received.

  In addition, in the SDL communication system, in order to be able to sufficiently perform battery saving of the narrow band system of the communication terminal for SDL communication, the narrow band system is separated and divided into a transmission unit and a reception unit. Thus, when the wireless terminal performs communication using the broadband receiving means, the power of the narrow band receiving means of the wireless terminal is controlled to be turned off. According to this, when the power of the receiving means for narrow band is turned off, it is not possible to perform communication using both narrow band and wide band as the downlink (downlink) channel. When using only broadband communication, battery power is not supplied to narrowband receivers that are not required at all, so it is possible to significantly reduce average power consumption and reduce power consumption. It becomes.

  In addition, when connecting and using a first wireless terminal having upper and lower radio channels for narrowband (uplink and downlink) and a second wireless terminal having a wideband downlink radio channel (downlink), The cycle is changed in a battery saving method in which reception is performed for a certain period of time at a predetermined period in the first wireless terminal, and information from the narrowband wireless base station to the first wireless terminal is received and received. This cycle change is made to have a longer cycle in a situation where voice communication such as a telephone is not performed than in a situation where voice communication such as a telephone is possible. For this reason, the wireless terminal can lengthen the period of standby reception of unnecessary telephones in a situation where voice communication such as a telephone is not performed, and can suppress power consumption for narrow bands.

It is a figure for demonstrating the specific example of this invention, Comprising: The conceptual diagram of the radio | wireless communications system made into the object of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the specific example of this invention, Comprising: The terminal device block diagram as a 1st specific example of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the specific example of this invention, Comprising: The flowchart for demonstrating the specific example of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the specific example of this invention, Comprising: The flowchart for demonstrating the specific example of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the specific example of this invention, Comprising: The flowchart for demonstrating the specific example of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the specific example of this invention, Comprising: The flowchart for demonstrating the specific example of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the specific example of this invention, Comprising: The operation | movement sequence diagram for demonstrating the specific example of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the specific example of this invention, Comprising: The operation | movement sequence diagram for demonstrating the specific example of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the specific example of this invention, Comprising: The operation | movement sequence diagram for demonstrating the specific example of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the specific example of this invention, Comprising: The operation | movement sequence diagram for demonstrating the specific example of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the specific example of this invention, Comprising: The figure which shows the example of a radio | wireless terminal structure as a specific example of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the specific example of this invention, Comprising: The figure for demonstrating the specific example of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the specific example of this invention, Comprising: The figure which shows the example of a radio | wireless terminal structure as a specific example of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the specific example of this invention, Comprising: The figure which shows the example which displays the residual amount of the battery of the radio | wireless terminal as a specific example of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the specific example of this invention, Comprising: The figure which shows the example of a radio | wireless terminal structure as a specific example of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the specific example of this invention, Comprising: The figure for demonstrating the specific example of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the specific example of this invention, Comprising: The figure for demonstrating the specific example of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the specific example of this invention, Comprising: The figure for demonstrating the specific example of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the specific example of this invention, Comprising: The conceptual diagram for demonstrating the 4th specific example of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the specific example of this invention, Comprising: The terminal block diagram for demonstrating the 5th specific example of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the specific example of this invention, Comprising: The state transition diagram for demonstrating the control procedure of the system in the case of the information transmission request | requirement in the 5th specific example of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the specific example of this invention, Comprising: The state transition diagram for demonstrating another control procedure of the system in the case of the information transmission request | requirement in the 5th specific example of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the specific example of this invention, Comprising: The state transition diagram for demonstrating another control procedure of the system in the case of the information transmission request | requirement in the 5th specific example of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the specific example of this invention, Comprising: The terminal block diagram for demonstrating the 6th specific example of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the specific example of this invention, Comprising: The figure for demonstrating the example of the reception waiting period in the 6th specific example of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 ... Narrow band transmission / reception means, 102,1006 ... Broadband reception means, 103, 1003, 2013 ... Control part, 104, 1001, 2011 ... Narrow band transmission / reception antenna, 105, 2021 ... Broadband reception antenna, 301, 401, 1000 , 2001, 2002 ... wireless terminal, 302 ... broadband wireless base station, 303 ... narrowband wireless base station, 304 ... buffer, 305 ... server, 306 ... network, 307, 402 ... wireless base station, 1004 ... battery control unit, 1005 , 2012a ... narrow band receiving means, 1007, 2012b ... narrow band transmitting means, 2014 ... battery control section, 2015 ... terminal section.

Claims (2)

Means for checking the presence or absence of a packet being transmitted before transmitting the packet; means for transmitting the packet when there is no packet being transmitted; means for waiting for transmission of the packet for a predetermined time when there is a packet being transmitted; A power control method for a wireless terminal comprising means for measuring the predetermined time,
A power supply control method characterized by turning off the power supply during the predetermined time when it is determined to wait for transmission. Before sending a packet, check for the presence of a packet in transit,
Means for transmitting a packet when no packet is being transmitted;
Means for waiting for transmission of a packet for a predetermined time when there is a packet being transmitted;
Means for measuring the predetermined time,
A wireless terminal characterized in that when it is determined to wait for transmission, the power is turned off for the predetermined time.

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