JP4780717B2 - Mobile device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a mobile terminal such as a camera-equipped mobile phone terminal having a biometric authentication function.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an application example of close-up photography using a camera-equipped mobile phone terminal, a near-infrared light source that emits near-infrared light, and a CCD camera unit that includes a filter that transmits near-infrared light, A near-infrared light from an external light source is irradiated onto a living body, and pattern light (for example, blood vessel pattern light) of a specific tissue obtained via the inside of the living body is imaged by a CCD camera unit, and the pattern of the specific tissue By verifying the blood vessel formation pattern obtained from the image signal of the light with the blood vessel formation pattern of the fair user registered in advance, the terminal user is authenticated whether it is a fair user (so-called biometric authentication). A portable terminal made in (1) is disclosed (see Patent Document 1).

In general, the camera function requires light having a wavelength of visible light, and the infrared region needs to be cut. Further, sensors necessary for biometric authentication such as vein authentication often use near-infrared illumination and often acquire near-infrared images. Therefore, it is necessary to cut the light in the visible light region and acquire the image by transmitting only the wavelength in the near infrared region necessary for acquiring the biological information.
JP-A-2005-152587

  Since both the conventional camera module and the biometric sensor module require different filters under the optical lens, they are separate sensor modules. Therefore, when the mobile terminal needs a camera and biometric authentication, two modules are mounted. As a result, there is a problem that the cost and the mounting volume are increased.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for sharing a CCD camera unit by switching a filter or inserting / removing a lens between a normal imaging mode and an angiography mode.

  By the way, as a configuration in which a camera unit provided in a portable terminal is shared and used to acquire biometric information of a finger for biometric authentication, the applicant of the present application disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 2006-43030, a camera unit and an illumination unit. Proposes a portable terminal that can perform close-up photography without changing distance from subject to subject, camera shake, subject shake, etc., and can authenticate a specific user accurately and easily based on the imaged finger information ing.

  It is necessary to change the orientation of the camera unit (lens) at the time of biometric authentication and camera shooting with the portable terminal having such a configuration. Also in camera shooting, the orientation of the camera unit differs between the normal shooting mode and the self-shooting mode in which the user shoots himself.

  In view of such a background, the present invention allows a camera-equipped mobile terminal having a plurality of shooting modes including a biometric authentication mode to share a camera unit for a plurality of shooting modes and to easily select a shooting mode. We intend to make it easy.

  A portable terminal according to the present invention is a portable terminal that can selectively use a biometric authentication mode and at least one photographing mode, and includes an optical sensor that detects optical intensity and the light input to the optical sensor. The first and second filters that transmit different wavelength regions according to different imaging modes, the orientation of the optical sensor corresponding to the different imaging modes, and the first and second filters corresponding to the change of the orientation. And a condensing means for condensing the light component transmitted through the filter onto the sensor.

  According to this configuration, when the direction of the optical sensor is changed by the movable mechanism, the shooting mode is switched, and the filter to be used is automatically switched to a filter suitable for the shooting mode.

  Further, by providing a plurality of lenses as the condensing means that are selectively used together with the selection of the first and second filters according to the different shooting modes, the subject in the shooting mode can be switched together with the switching of the filters. Switching to the light collection characteristic suitable for the distance is performed.

  According to the camera-equipped mobile terminal of the present invention, since the camera module and the sensor module can be used together, it is possible to reduce the cost and the mounting volume without mounting a plurality of modules. Not only for multiple shooting modes including biometric authentication mode, but also by switching the shooting mode by changing the orientation of the camera unit, and automatically switching the filter accordingly. It becomes possible to make the mode selection easy and easy to understand.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of a camera-equipped mobile terminal according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a mobile terminal 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The mobile terminal 100 is a mobile phone in a form in which an upper housing 10 and a lower housing 20 are coupled so as to be slidable linearly with each other. The figure shows a state where both housings are overlapped. The display screen of the display unit 11 such as an LCD is exposed on the outer main surface of the upper casing 10, and a second operation unit 14 including a cursor movement key, a selection key, a control key, and the like is disposed below the display screen. Has been. An illumination unit 13 is disposed on the upper back of the display unit 11. The illumination unit 13 is a part that emits near infrared rays in the biometric authentication mode. A first operation unit 29 including a numeric keypad and various control keys is disposed on the inner main surface of the lower housing 20, and a camera unit 21 is disposed above the first operation unit 29. The camera unit 21 of the mobile terminal 100 according to the present embodiment corresponds to three shooting modes: a normal shooting mode, a self-shooting mode, and a biometric authentication mode. The normal shooting mode is a shooting mode in which shooting is performed with the camera unit facing the other party or form. The self-shooting mode is a shooting mode in which a user holding the terminal takes a picture with the camera unit facing himself / herself. The biometric authentication mode is a photographing mode for performing personal authentication by detecting a vein pattern (blood vessel pattern) as user-specific biometric information.

  The camera unit 21 has an image sensor unit (optical sensor) 28 including a lens unit (condensing means) at the center of the upper end of the lower housing 20. As the image sensor, a CMOS sensor or a CCD sensor can be used. The image sensor unit 28 is rotatably arranged so that the lens unit is directed in three directions of the upper surface, the outer surface, and the inner surface of the lower housing 20. Filters 22, 24, and 26 corresponding to the biometric authentication mode, the normal shooting mode, and the self-portrait mode are arranged in the three directions of the image sensor unit 28, respectively. The filter 22 is a visible light cut filter that cuts a light component having a wavelength of visible light, and the filters 24 and 26 are IR cut filters that cut a light component having a wavelength in the infrared region. In this example, lenses (light collecting means) 23, 25, and 27 are attached to these filters 22, 24, and 26, respectively. Since the required subject distance differs depending on each photographing mode and the necessary light condensing characteristics differ, these lenses correspond to such light condensing characteristics. However, when a lens is also provided in the image sensor unit 28, a configuration in which any of the lenses 23, 25, and 27 is omitted is also conceivable.

  FIG. 2 shows usage states of the three shooting modes of the mobile terminal 100 shown in FIG. 2A corresponds to a self-portrait mode in which the user 32 holding the mobile terminal 100 images itself, FIGS. 2B and 2D correspond to a biometric authentication mode, and FIG. 2C corresponds to a normal image capture mode. ing. In these photographing modes, the slide positional relationship between the upper housing 10 and the lower housing 20 is different.

  In the self-portrait mode of FIG. 2A, the slide positional relationship between the two housings is set so that the upper portion of the lower housing 20 protrudes from the upper housing 10. In this shooting mode, the lens of the image sensor unit 28 faces inward (that is, in the direction in which the display screen of the display unit 11 is facing (leftward in the figure)). The direction of the image sensor unit 28 is a direction (rotation position) for the self-portrait mode 21. The direction of the image sensor unit 28 is changed corresponding to different photographing modes, and at the same time, the direction of the image sensor unit 28 is used corresponding to the change of this direction The filter to be switched is switched between the first filter (filter 22) and the second filter (filters 24, 26).

  In this specification, the direction in which the lens of the image sensor unit 28 faces is considered as the direction of the camera unit 21. A movable mechanism is configured so that the orientation of the image sensor unit 28 moves in conjunction with the sliding operation of the housing. This may be constituted only by a mechanical mechanism, or may be constituted by an electromagnetic mechanism (an arbitrary combination of a motor, a clutch, a solenoid, etc.).

  In the biometric authentication mode shown in FIG. 2B, the sliding positional relationship between the two housings is set so that the upper portion of the upper housing 10 protrudes from the lower housing 20. By this sliding operation, the orientation of the image sensor unit 28 becomes the orientation suitable for the biometric authentication mode (upward in the figure). As often appears in the perspective view of FIG. 3D, the finger 31 is placed on the illumination unit 13 along the longitudinal direction of the illumination unit 13. In this state, illumination is performed from the illumination unit 13 and imaging is performed by the opposing camera unit 21.

  According to this configuration, when the subject is photographed, the subject is in contact with the surface of the casing, and therefore there is no change in distance from the camera unit 21 or the illumination unit 13 to the subject, camera shake, subject blur, and the like. In addition, the camera unit 21 is disposed at a position away from the position where the illumination unit 13 is disposed, and at the time of photographing, a part of the light emission portion of the illumination unit 13 is covered with the subject, so that the illumination light is The illumination light that is directly incident on the imaging unit or reflected by the surface of the subject hardly enters the imaging unit.

  In the normal photographing mode shown in FIG. 2C, the upper housing 10 and the lower housing 20 are used in a state where they are exactly stacked. In this state, the image sensor unit 28 faces outward (right side in the figure). The normal shooting mode is activated by a user operation such as pressing a key or a button (not shown).

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a mobile terminal 100a according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Elements similar to those of the mobile terminal 100 shown in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

  This portable terminal 100a is a so-called foldable terminal, and an upper housing 30 and a lower housing 40 are rotatably coupled by a central hinge portion, and are opened and closed as shown in the figure. You can switch between states. In the present embodiment, the hinge portion also serves as the camera portion 41. The camera unit 41 incorporates a rotatable image sensor unit 48 similar to the image sensor unit 28 of FIG. 1, and the orientation thereof is set to three shooting modes (that is, a biometric authentication mode, a normal shooting mode, and a self-portrait mode). It is configured so that it can be switched in three ways accordingly. Filters 42, 44, and 46 are arranged around the image sensor unit 48 corresponding to the above three directions. The filter 42 is a visible light cut filter that cuts a light component having a wavelength of visible light, and the filters 44 and 46 are IR cut filters that cut a light component having a wavelength in the infrared region. In this example, lenses 43, 45, and 47 are attached to the filters 42, 44, and 46, respectively. Since the necessary condensing characteristics differ depending on each photographing mode, these lenses correspond to such condensing characteristics.

  As shown in the figure, the first angle at which the camera unit 41 (the lens unit of the image sensor unit 48) faces the direction of the illumination unit 13 along the display screen of the display unit 11 with the upper and lower cases opened. Orientation) corresponds to the biometric authentication mode. At this time, the filter 42 and the lens 43 are used. The biometric authentication mode may be activated by detecting that the camera unit 41 is in this state.

  The second angle in which the camera unit 41 is directed from the upper and lower housings to the rear direction with the upper and lower housings opened corresponds to the normal shooting mode. At this time, the filter 44 and the lens 45 are used.

  The third angle at which the camera unit 41 faces forward with the upper and lower housings open corresponds to the self-portrait mode. At this time, the filter 46 and the lens 47 are used.

  Although it is assumed that the user switches the angle of the camera unit 41 (that is, switching of the shooting mode) manually, it may be performed by driving a driving unit such as a motor by operating the first operation unit 29. Good.

  In any shooting mode, the filter and lens suitable for the shooting mode are selected and used by the rotation of the camera unit 41.

  As described above, according to the first and second embodiments of the present invention, one module is shared as a normal photographing camera, a self-portrait camera, and a biometric authentication sensor, and the angle of the image sensor unit is changed. Accordingly, the shooting mode can be selected and the filter and the lens can be switched, so that the operability is improved and an easy-to-understand interface can be provided.

  FIG. 4 shows a schematic internal configuration of the mobile terminal 100 (or 100a).

  The control unit 200 is composed of a CPU, and based on the OS and various programs stored in the memory unit 206, various controls of the terminal, control at the time of biometric authentication according to the present embodiment, and the like via the control line 207. I do.

  The communication antenna 202 is, for example, a built-in antenna, and transmits and receives signal radio waves for calls and packet communication. The communication circuit 201 performs frequency conversion, modulation, demodulation, and the like of transmission / reception signals. The data transmitted and received by packet communication is e-mail data, moving image or still image data, audio data, HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) data, program data, and other various data. Here, when the reception data of the communication antenna 202 and the communication circuit 201 is call voice data, the call voice data is sent to the voice processing unit 212 via the data line 208, and the other received data is temporarily After being sent to the control unit 200 and processed, it is sent from the control unit 200 to each unit as necessary.

  When voice call reception data is supplied from the communication antenna 202 and the communication circuit 201, the voice processing unit 212 decodes the call voice reception data and transmits the decoded call voice data via the data line 208. Send to speaker 210.

  The speaker 210 is an ear receiver or linger (ringing tone), music playback, and alarm sound output speaker provided in the portable terminal, and includes a digital / analog converter and an amplifier, and includes a call voice and a ringer sound. , Playback music data is digital / analog converted and amplified and then output. As a result, call voice, ringer sound, and playback music can be obtained.

  The microphone 211 is a microphone for transmission, and includes an analog / digital converter and an amplifier. The call voice signal input via the microphone 211 is amplified to a predetermined level by an amplifier, converted to digital voice data by an analog / digital converter, and sent to the voice processing unit 212 via the data line 208. After being encoded, the data is sent to the communication circuit 201 via the data line 208, subjected to various processes such as modulation and frequency conversion, and transmitted from the communication antenna 202.

  The display unit 203 corresponds to the display unit 11 shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 and includes a display composed of an LCD or the like and a display driving circuit for driving the display.

  The camera unit 215 corresponds to the camera unit 21 in FIG. 1 and the camera unit 41 in FIG. 3 and includes an image sensor unit including an image sensor such as a CMOS sensor and a CCD sensor, a filter, and a lens as described above. In the present embodiment, the camera unit 215 supports the above-described self-shooting mode, biometric authentication mode, and normal shooting mode.

  The LED (light emitting diode) unit 216 includes an incoming LED, an auxiliary light LED for camera imaging, a backlight LED for the display unit 203, an illumination LED for each key, and the aforementioned biometric authentication illumination unit 13 LED.

  The image processing unit 213 processes an image displayed on the display unit 203. Further, the image processing unit 213 performs decompression decoding or the like on the compression-coded image data read from the memory unit 206 under the control of the control unit 200, image data acquired via the Internet, or the like. Then, the decompressed and decoded image data is sent to the display unit 203 via the data line 208 and displayed. In addition, the image processing unit 213 performs compression encoding of still image and moving image data captured by the camera unit 215, and the compression encoded image data is necessary under the control of the control unit 200. Accordingly, it is sent to the memory unit 206 for storage.

  The operation unit 204 corresponds to the first operation unit 29 and the second operation unit 14 in FIG. 1, and includes operation devices such as a keyboard provided on the housing of the mobile terminal 100 according to the present embodiment. An operation signal generator that generates an operation signal corresponding to the operation of the operation device.

  The authentication processing unit (authentication unit) 214 is biometric image information that is captured by the camera unit 215 and subjected to appropriate image processing by the image processing unit 213 when the mobile terminal 100 is set to the biometric authentication mode. Then, for example, a vein pattern as a user-specific biometric pattern is extracted, and the extracted vein pattern is compared with a legitimate user vein pattern registered in advance in the memory unit 206 to authenticate the user. The information of the authentication result is sent to the control unit 200.

  The sensor unit 205 is a sensor that can detect the presence or absence of a finger, for example, such as a pressure sensor, a capacitance sensor, or a light reflection detection sensor, and the sensor is disposed in the vicinity of the illumination unit 13 described above. Is done. When performing the biometric authentication, the portable terminal 100 may start the biometric authentication process when the sensor unit 205 detects the presence of a living body such as a finger. That is, for example, as in the above-described use example, it is possible to detect that the finger is present at a predetermined position in conjunction with the operation of pinching the finger, and the biometric authentication process can be started in response to the detection. . However, the sensor unit 205 is not essential, and a configuration in which a user performs an imaging instruction by performing a predetermined key operation may be employed. In addition, registration of biometric information is separately performed according to a user instruction.

  The memory unit 206 includes a ROM (Read Only Memory) and a RAM (Random Access Memory). The ROM is an OS (Operating System), control program code for the control unit 200 to control each part, various initial setting values, font data, dictionary data used for kana-kanji conversion and prediction conversion, ringtones and key operation sounds. And the like, the biometric authentication control program code according to the present embodiment, program codes for various applications installed in the terminal, device identification information (ID) of the terminal, and the like are stored. This ROM includes a rewritable ROM such as a NAND-type flash memory (NAND-type flash memory) or an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory). Schedule book data, various data such as communication history, user dictionary data, still image and moving image data, sound data such as key operation sound, registered legitimate user vein pattern information used in biometric authentication according to this embodiment In addition, various user setting values can be stored. The RAM stores data as needed as a work area or a temporary data storage area when the control unit 200 performs various data processing.

  Although the changeover switch 209 is not an essential element in the present invention, it is a switch that detects at least the slide position of FIG. 2B of the upper and lower housings in the portable terminal 100 of FIG. Can be used to give a signal to the control unit. However, it is preferable to prevent the switch to the biometric authentication mode every time the lower housing 20 is pulled out to be in the state of FIG. 2B in order to use the first operation unit 29. Therefore, when using an application that uses the biometric authentication mode with the upper and lower casings stacked, the upper and lower casings are slid to the state shown in FIG. 2B when biometric authentication is required. The output of the change-over switch 209 can be used to start the biometric authentication mode. In any of the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the changeover switch 209 can be used to detect the slide position shown in FIG. 2A and switch the photographing mode to the self-portrait mode.

  In the portable terminal 100a of FIG. 3, the changeover switch 209 detects the first angular position corresponding to at least the biometric authentication mode of the camera unit 41, and gives a signal for switching the imaging mode to the biometric authentication mode to the control unit. It is a switch. With this switch, it is possible to detect the second angular position corresponding to the self-portrait mode and switch the image-capturing mode to the self-portrait mode.

  When an electromagnetic means is used for driving the image sensor unit 28 described above, a signal serving as a trigger for the activation can be obtained by the changeover switch 209.

  In addition, although not shown in FIG. 2, the terminal according to the present embodiment has a general configuration such as an external memory interface, an external cable connector, an infrared communication function, an electronic wallet function, a vibrator, a battery, and a power control function. It is also provided for each component included in a mobile phone terminal. The description of the circuit configuration and other configurations provided in these general mobile phone terminals will be omitted.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, but various modifications and changes other than those mentioned above can be made. For example, although it is assumed that the user manually switches between the slide positions, a configuration in which the slide is automatically performed by a user's button operation or the like may be employed.

It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the portable terminal with a camera which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the use condition of three imaging | photography modes of the portable terminal with a camera shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the portable terminal with a camera which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the schematic internal structure of the portable terminal with a camera of embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Upper housing | casing, 11 ... Display part, 13 ... Illumination part, 14 ... Operation part, 20 ... Lower housing | casing, 21 ... Camera part, 22, 24, 26 ... Filter, 23, 25, 27 ... Lens, 28 ... Image sensor unit, 29 ... operation unit, 30 ... upper casing, 31 ... finger, 32 ... user, 40 ... lower casing, 41 ... camera unit, 42, 44, 46 ... filter, 43, 45, 47 ... lens, 48 ... Image sensor unit, 100, 100a ... Portable terminal, 200 ... Control unit, 203 ... Display unit, 204 ... Operation unit, 205 ... Sensor unit, 206 ... Memory unit, 208 ... Data line, 209 ... Changeover switch, 213 ... Image processing unit, 215 ... camera unit

Claims (6)

A portable terminal capable of selectively using a biometric authentication mode and a plurality of other shooting modes,
An optical sensor for detecting optical intensity;
A movable mechanism for changing the direction of the optical sensor according to the plurality of shooting modes;
And first and second filters that transmit different wavelength regions corresponding to the plurality of shooting modes,
A portable terminal, wherein the first and second filters corresponding to the plurality of photographing modes are respectively arranged in directions of the optical sensors corresponding to the plurality of photographing modes . Wherein each of the orientation of the optical sensor, a portable terminal according to claim 1, wherein the focusing means corresponding to the plurality of shooting modes arranged respectively corresponding to the plurality of shooting modes. The first and second housings are linearly slidably coupled to each other, the different shooting modes are determined according to the slide positional relationship between the first and second housings, and the movable mechanism includes: 3. The portable terminal according to claim 1, wherein the direction of the optical sensor is changed in conjunction with the change of the slide position.   The portable terminal according to claim 3, wherein when at least a slide position in the biometric authentication mode is selected, the biometric authentication mode is activated in accordance with the slide operation. It comprises first and second housing rotatably coupled to each other by a hinge portion, the optical sensor to the hinge portion, the first and second mobile terminal according to claim 1, wherein the filter is provided. A portable terminal capable of selectively using a biometric authentication mode and a plurality of other shooting modes,
A camera unit including an optical sensor which can be rotated to change the orientation according to different shooting modes;
A first filter and a second filter that transmit different wavelength regions according to the different photographing modes among the light input to the optical sensor;
A portable terminal, wherein the first and second filters corresponding to the plurality of photographing modes are respectively arranged in directions of the optical sensors corresponding to the plurality of photographing modes .