JP5019630B2 - Portable communication terminal and operation method thereof - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a portable communication terminal provided with a directional speaker.

Mobile communication terminals such as mobile phones (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as “terminals”) are often used while moving outdoors or in public facilities. For this reason, there are many cases that are used in an environment where there are others in particular, and in such a case, it is necessary to consider that the operation sound and ringtone of the terminal do not disturb other people around them.
For this reason, conventionally, there have been used methods such as silence operation (silence) by using a so-called manner mode or mute setting, or using a means for notifying an incoming call by vibration or light instead of a ring tone. is there. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a portable communication device having a function of converting to a manner mode, and an effect that it is possible to prevent inconvenience to surrounding people by conversion to the manner mode. It is sung (see Patent Document 1).
On the other hand, there is also known a mobile phone equipped with a directional speaker in which sound output from the speaker can be heard only by a person located in the direction of the direction. For example, Patent Document 2 discloses such a mobile phone. ing. However, in the invention of the same document, in the conventional mobile phone, the speaker for notifying the ring tone is located on the back side, and when placing the mobile phone on the table, there is a case where the speaker is placed in contact with the table surface. In view of the difficulty, the solution is to improve such difficulty in hearing. And as a solution for that, a mobile phone with a directional speaker mounted on the side of the housing is proposed, thereby making the ringtone forward and making it easy to hear the ringtone. As described above, the invention of Patent Document 2 does not solve the problem of preventing the ring tone from being disturbed by other people around. However, by installing such a directional speaker in a terminal such as a cellular phone, the incoming call can be received. It can be said that it has been conventionally known that sound can be heard only by users located in the direction of the speaker and can not be heard by other people in the surrounding area, and thus it is possible to prevent inconvenience to other people around. (See Patent Document 2).
Special Table 2002-524940 JP 2003-179676 A

However, operation sounds and ringtones are intended to ensure that the user is operating properly and that there is an incoming call, so that they do not bother others around us. Needless to say, it would be a fall at the end if this original function could not be performed. In other words, the portable communication terminal has the original function of reliably informing the user that the operation has been performed properly and that there has been an incoming call, so that it does not disturb other people around the device. There is a need to be able to.
In this regard, first, regarding the operation, there is the following problem in the method of muting the operation sound by the manner mode, the mute setting, or the like. In other words, it is not always easy for a portable communication terminal to confirm whether or not a key has been pressed with a finger touch. In this respect, the operation sound is extremely useful as a means for confirming that the operation key is properly pressed and the operation of the terminal is performed reliably. Nevertheless, if the operation sound is muted, it is difficult to confirm that the operation has been performed reliably, and the user may not notice the erroneous operation.
On the other hand, regarding incoming calls, a method of notifying that there is an incoming call by vibration or light instead of a ring tone in the manner mode is generally an effective method. However, in order for the user to notice an incoming call in this way, the terminal is in direct contact with the user's body or indirectly through clothing, or the terminal enters the user's view. It is necessary to be. Therefore, when the user is in a state where the terminal is not in contact with the user and is not in the user's field of view, such as when the user carries the terminal in a handbag and carries it, the user May not be aware of incoming calls, so it is still a problem to rely on this alone.
Also, in the case of a terminal including a directional speaker for outputting a ringtone, the user may not notice the incoming call unless the directional speaker is substantially facing the user's face. In addition, the case where the directional speaker is not substantially facing the user's face is often the case where the directional speaker is facing substantially the other person in the surrounding area. It is also possible that a ringing tone is emitted toward the user, causing trouble.

As described above, the conventional manner mode and the directional speaker ensure that the user knows the operation and the incoming call only when the surrounding environment including the state of the user and other people in the surroundings is under a certain condition. The above method can be an effective method, and it cannot be an effective method when the conditions are not satisfied. However, since there are various environments where the terminal is used, such as whether there are other people in the surroundings, the user can be surely notified of incoming calls and operations in any environment, and other people around In order to avoid inconvenience, it is necessary to set and switch an operation / incoming notification method according to environmental changes. However, there has been no portable communication terminal capable of such setting / switching.
Therefore, a problem to be solved by the present invention is to reliably notify the user of an incoming call or an operation, and to prevent annoying other people around. It is another object of the present invention to provide a portable communication terminal capable of performing setting / switching according to environmental changes and an operation method thereof.

In order to solve the above problems, among the present inventions, the first invention outputs an operation sound signal output unit for outputting an operation sound signal based on the operation information, and outputs a ring tone signal based on the incoming information. A ring tone signal output unit, a non-directional speaker, a directional speaker, a setting information holding unit that holds setting information for determining signal switching to an interface including a speaker serving as a signal output destination, the operation information, Provided is a portable communication terminal having a setting information acquisition unit that acquires setting information from a setting information holding unit based on incoming call information, and a switching unit that switches a signal output destination to any one of the interfaces according to the acquired setting information To do.
Moreover, 2nd invention is based on 1st invention, The said directional speaker is arrange | positioned on the surface which has arrange | positioned the operation function component and the display which displays the operation related information by this operation function component. Type communication terminal.
Further, the third invention is based on the first or second invention, the detection unit for detecting the state of being gripped and the user's face substantially facing the operation surface, and the switching unit is a detection Provided is a portable communication terminal having detection result switching means for switching in accordance with the detection result in the unit.
Further, the fourth invention is based on any one of the first to third inventions, and the directional speaker and the non-directional speaker are one speaker having both functions, and an audio signal and / or Provided is a portable communication terminal to which an ultrasonic carrier signal is supplied.

  The fifth invention is a method for operating a portable communication terminal including a non-directional speaker and a directional speaker, wherein a determination step for determining whether operation information and / or incoming call information has been detected; Setting for obtaining setting information for determining signal switching to an interface that is a signal output destination and includes a non-directional speaker and a directional speaker when the determination result in the determination step is a detection result Provided is an operation method for a portable communication terminal, comprising: an information acquisition step; and a switching step of switching a signal output destination to any one of the interfaces according to the acquired setting information.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to reliably notify a user of an incoming call or an operation, and to prevent annoying other people around. In addition, it is possible to provide a portable communication terminal capable of setting / switching according to a change in environment and an operation method thereof.

  Examples of the present invention will be described below. The relationship between the embodiments and the claims is as follows. The first embodiment mainly relates to claims 1 and 5, the second embodiment mainly relates to claim 2, the third embodiment mainly relates to claim 3, the fourth embodiment mainly claims 4 and the like. About. In addition, this invention is not limited to these Examples at all, and can be implemented in various modes without departing from the gist thereof.

<Overview>
The portable communication terminal of the present invention is provided with a plurality of types of output interfaces including directional speakers and non-directional speakers, and can reliably notify the user of operation / incoming calls according to the environment, This is a portable communication terminal that is characterized in that it can be set and switched to perform such output.
First, the outline of the portable communication terminal of the present invention will be briefly described.

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an outline of a portable communication terminal according to the present invention. The portable communication terminal in this figure is an example of a mobile phone. In addition, this figure shows how the ringtone or operation sound of the terminal is output in each of the scenes at the time of incoming call and operation.
First, the upper part of the figure shows the case of an incoming call. At this time, the ring tone of the portable communication terminal 0100 is a non-directional speaker function using the non-directional speaker function from the speaker 0130 (the example in the figure is one speaker having both the directional speaker function and the non-directional speaker function). As directional sound, it is output in all directions as indicated by the arrows. The reason why the ring tone is output as non-directional sound in this example is that, as described above, if vibration or the like is used instead of the ring tone, a mobile phone is provided as in this example. This is because the user may not be aware of the incoming call when he / she carries it in the phone. In addition, when a directional sound is output, if the directional speaker does not face the user's face as in this example, the user may not notice the incoming call. This is because it is possible that a ringing tone is emitted toward other people around the directional speaker that are substantially facing each other, which may cause trouble for others. It is also possible to adjust the volume of the ringtone as will be described later, so if you adjust the volume to a low level, it will not be a nuisance to others around you even if you output it in all directions. It is not considered.

  Next, the lower part of the figure shows the case of operation. At this time, the operation sound of the portable communication terminal 0100 is output from the speaker 0130 as directional sound using the directional speaker function only in the forward direction, that is, in the direction where the user is facing, as indicated by the arrow. The The reason why the operation sound is output as directional sound in this example is that, as described above, for example, when the operation sound is muted, it is confirmed that the operation is performed reliably. This is because there is a problem that it becomes difficult to perform the operation and there is a possibility that the user may not notice the erroneous operation. And unlike the case of ringtones, the user usually faces his face at the time of operation. Therefore, the portable communication terminal of the present invention can confirm the operation sound by outputting directional sound. It is the feature.

And in the present invention, what kind of output is to be performed is set in the form of setting information, such as non-directional voice output at the time of incoming call and directional voice output at the time of operation. Determined by. How to perform this setting can be arbitrarily set according to the surrounding environment and the like, and the feature of the portable communication terminal of the present invention is that it can be set arbitrarily.
Hereinafter, a configuration for exhibiting such characteristics will be described in detail.

<Configuration>
(General)
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of functional blocks of the portable communication terminal according to the present embodiment. As shown in this figure, the “portable communication terminal” 0200 of this example includes an “operation sound signal output unit” 0210, a “ring tone signal output unit” 0220, a “non-directional speaker” 0230, and “ It has a “directional speaker” 0240, a “setting information holding unit” 0250, a “setting information acquisition unit” 0260, and a “switching unit” 0270.
The functional blocks of the portable communication terminal according to the present invention described below can be realized as hardware, software, or both hardware and software. Specifically, if a computer is used, a CPU, a main memory, a bus, a secondary storage device, a hardware component such as an external peripheral device, an I / O port for the external peripheral device, and the like Examples include a driver program for controlling hardware, other application programs, and a user interface used for information input.
Then, by CPU processing according to the program developed on the main memory, the data input through the interface and stored in the memory and the hard disk are processed and stored, and the above hardware and software are controlled. Instructions are generated. The present invention can be implemented not only as an information viewing apparatus but also as a method. A part of the invention can be configured as software. Furthermore, a software product used for causing a computer to execute such software and a recording medium in which the product is fixed to a recording medium are naturally included in the technical scope of the present invention (the same applies throughout the present specification). Is).

(Portable communication terminal)
The “portable communication terminal” of the present invention is typically a mobile phone, and will be described in this specification as an example of a mobile phone. However, the portable communication terminal of the present invention is not limited to a mobile phone, and literally includes all portable communication terminals. For example, it may be a PHS (Personal Handy-phone System), a pager, or a portable digital music player having a download function via a communication network.

In addition, the portable communication terminal of the present invention may include the above components as essential components and may include other components.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating another example of functional blocks of the portable communication terminal according to the present embodiment, and is a diagram illustrating an example of a cellular phone including configuration requirements other than the essential components described above. Since this figure has functions using known techniques except for the above essential components, detailed description is omitted. For example, as shown in this figure, the portable communication terminal 0300 is in the manner mode. A manner mode button 0301 for switching and another operation unit 0302 may be provided. In addition, the camera unit 0303 may be provided so that it can be determined whether or not it is in a public facility by its imaging function and image recognition processing function, or the user's face is approximately facing the operation surface of the terminal. It may be possible to detect whether or not the current state is present (this example will be described later in another embodiment). Further, a GPS unit 0304 may be provided so that it can be determined whether or not it is in a public facility by its position specifying function and map interpretation processing function. Further, a detection unit 0395 including a human sensor may be provided, and the detection function may be used to determine whether the terminal is being held by the user. As detection means in this case, for example, means for detecting body temperature of a user holding a mobile phone or a user existing near the terminal using infrared rays, or detecting a fingerprint or palm print of a user holding the mobile phone Means, means for magnetically detecting the presence of the user by using a non-contact tag attached to the user, and the like are conceivable.
Switch appropriately to voice output, display, vibration, etc., which is a notification method of operation information and incoming information according to the captured image obtained from the above function, position information obtained from the position specifying function and map interpretation processing function, person information, etc. It is possible to do it.

  These determination results are passed to the switching unit 0370. On the other hand, in the setting information held by the setting information holding unit 0350 and acquired by the setting information acquisition unit 0360, for example, in the case of the determination result that the determination result of the camera unit is in a public facility, the operation sound signal is transmitted from the directional speaker. Contents to be output are included. Therefore, for example, when the operation information is acquired by pressing the operation key of the user, the setting information acquisition unit collates with the setting information stored in the memory, and based on the result, the output destination is directed to the switching unit. Instruct to switch to speaker. The switching unit switches the output destination of the operation sound signal to the directional speaker according to such setting information. As a result, the operation sound signal output unit / ringing tone signal output unit 0305 (in this example, it is described as means including both the operation sound signal output unit and the ringing tone signal output unit, but is provided as separate means shown in FIG. However, it is possible to output an operation sound signal via the directional speaker 0340.

(Operation sound signal output part)
Returning to FIG. 2, each component of the portable communication terminal according to the present embodiment will be sequentially described. First, the “operation sound signal output unit” 0210 is for outputting an operation sound signal based on operation information. The operation sound signal is output through a non-directional speaker, a directional speaker, or another interface.
“Operation information” refers to information related to the operation of the portable communication terminal. Typically, it is a key such as which key of the terminal is pressed, which key and which key is pressed continuously. It is information about pressing. For example, as an example of “information indicating which key was pressed”, information “SOINF_KEYNO_104” indicating that a key represented by the key code “104” (for example, the numeric key “4”) is pressed is this operation information. It corresponds to.

(Ring tone signal output part)
The “ringing tone signal output unit” 0220 is for outputting a ringing tone signal based on the incoming call information. The ring tone signal is output through a non-directional speaker, a directional speaker, or other interface.
“Incoming information” refers to information indicating that an incoming call has arrived at the portable communication terminal. For example, information called incoming information (for example, represented by a code “RINF_VOIC”) indicating that a voice call (ordinary phone call) has been received corresponds to the incoming information.

(Non-directional speakers, directional speakers, etc.)
The portable communication terminal of the present invention includes at least a non-directional speaker and a directional speaker as an interface for outputting an operation sound signal or / and a ring tone signal. The number of each speaker may be one, or a plurality of one or both may be provided. In particular, when a plurality of directional speakers are provided, it is possible to adjust the range in which the sound can be heard from each speaker by changing the direction of each speaker. The non-directional speaker and the directional speaker may be provided as independent speakers, or may be provided as a single speaker having both functions (the latter example is different in another embodiment). Will be described later).
The “speaker” in the present invention may be provided directly on the terminal body, or may be provided on an earphone, a headphone, or the like that can be connected to the terminal body. In addition, the “speaker” in the present invention is preferably capable of adjusting the output volume. Thereby, for example, even when a ring tone is output from a non-directional speaker, it is possible to avoid disturbing other people by reducing the volume so that only the user can hear it.

  Since the directional speaker is a speaker that outputs an audio signal only in a specific direction, the directional speaker is an output interface that is particularly suitable for a usage state facing the user's face. Therefore, a directional speaker is the optimal interface during operation. On the other hand, a non-directional speaker or the like is an optimal interface for incoming calls, where the user's face is often not in the direction of the speaker, such as when the user is carrying a terminal and carrying it around. However, the present invention can be flexibly set and switched according to changes in the environment, and is configured to switch to an optimum interface according to each environment.

  The directional speaker may be a super directional speaker. A technique related to such a super-directional speaker is disclosed in, for example, Non-Patent Document 1 (see Non-Patent Document 1: Shinsuke Nakajima et al. “Prototype of portable super-directional speaker” NTT DoCoMo Technical Journal Vol. 14 No. 1). . By using such superdirective speaker technology, a highly directional sound field can be reproduced even with a small-diameter speaker by using ultrasonic waves with a short wavelength, and therefore the directional speaker for the portable communication terminal of the present invention. Can be more suitably realized. In addition, the superdirective speaker is not limited to this system, and other systems can be used in the present invention.

(Setting information holding unit)
Returning to FIG. 2 again, the “setting information holding unit” 0250 is configured to hold setting information.
“Setting information” refers to information that determines signal switching to an interface including a speaker that is a signal output destination of an operation sound signal and / or a ringtone signal. For example, information that defines a switching rule such that the operation sound signal is always switched to be output from a directional speaker, or the ringing tone signal is always switched to be output from a non-directional speaker. There are various patterns of setting information setting methods. As the simplest example, when operation information and / or incoming call information is acquired, an interface as a signal output destination is always set, for example, directivity. What is uniquely defined, such as a speaker, can be considered.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of variations of setting information. This figure is an example in which an interface is defined by operation information and / or incoming call information. In this figure, when the number of interfaces as signal output destinations is one, two cases, three cases, etc., interface examples considered as output destinations are enumerated. Thus, there may be only one interface as a signal output destination, or two or more interfaces may be used (for example, output from a directional speaker and also displayed on a display). Among these variations, the setting information holding unit stores information set in advance by the user, information previously included in the product as an embedded specification, and the like, for example, as table data.

In FIG. 4, setting information ID for uniquely identifying the setting information is attached to the setting information determined for each interface that is a signal output destination. The setting information ID is a number string / code string uniquely assigned to each setting information. For example, when the number of output destination interfaces is one, the setting information ID “01001” is assigned to the setting information that defines the interface as “non-directional speaker”.
Each digit number constituting the setting information ID may have a unique meaning. In the above example, “0” in the tens place indicates a case where the interface is uniquely specified by the setting information. On the other hand, when it is determined to switch to a specific interface based on the acquired operation information or the like, it is conceivable that the tens place is represented by “1”. The number in the thousands place indicates the number of interfaces that are output destinations.
In this way, the setting information holding unit holds the setting information ID and the content of the setting information in association with each other. Thereby, the setting information acquisition part described below can uniquely specify and acquire the setting information by the setting information ID.

  The example in which the setting information is generated and held as one common setting information for outputting the operation sound signal and the ring tone signal has been described above. However, the setting information is the setting information for outputting the operation sound signal and the ring tone. The setting information for signal output may be generated and held separately.

(Setting information acquisition unit)
Returning to FIG. 2, the “setting information acquisition unit” 0260 is configured to acquire setting information from the setting information holding unit. This acquisition is performed when operation information and / or incoming call information is detected. This is because it is necessary to output an operation sound signal and / or a ringing tone signal from a specific interface according to the setting information only when the operation information and / or the incoming call information is detected. For this reason, the setting information acquisition unit needs to know that there is operation information or the like. This is, for example, information that a signal input based on a key operation by a user is accepted or information that an incoming signal is received. Can be obtained from the means that received the operation signal or the means that received the incoming signal.

(Switching part)
Next, the “switching unit” is configured to switch the signal output destination to one of the interfaces according to the acquired setting information. As described above, this switching may be performed only in accordance with the setting information, or may be performed based on the acquired operation information and / or incoming call information. Further, as described above, even when switching is performed only in accordance with the setting information, switching may be performed according to the setting information generated based on the acquired operation information and / or incoming call information.

  Here, a case will be described in which switching is performed according to only the simplest preset setting information. Specifically, when operation information and / or incoming call information is acquired, switching is performed using an example in which it is determined that the interface that is the signal output destination is switched to a directional speaker regardless of the content of the information. The configuration of is as follows. When the setting information acquisition unit acquires the setting information, the setting information is passed to the switching unit. In response to this, the switching unit reads the setting information, here, “switch the signal output destination interface to the directional speaker”, and in accordance with the contents, the operation based on the acquired operation information and / or incoming call information. The signal output destination of the sound signal and / or the ring tone signal is switched to the directional speaker.

(Hardware configuration)
Next, the hardware configuration of the portable communication terminal of this embodiment will be described.
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the portable communication terminal according to the present embodiment. As shown in the figure, the operation sound signal output unit and the ring tone signal output unit of the portable communication terminal of this example are “main memory” 0502, “CPU” 0503, and “I / O” 0504. Composed. The setting information holding unit includes “storage device (recording medium)” 0501, “main memory”, and “CPU”. The setting information acquisition unit and the switching unit are composed of a “main memory” and a “CPU”. Further, the non-directional speaker 0505 and the directional speaker 0506 are connected to “I / O”. Further, the portable communication terminal of the present embodiment may have another interface as shown in the figure, and this is also connected to “I / O”.

These are connected to each other by a data communication path such as “system bus” 0508, and perform transmission / reception and processing of information. The storage device stores various programs executed by the CPU. The main memory provides a work area which is a work area when the program is executed by the CPU. A plurality of memory addresses are assigned to the main memory and the storage device, respectively, and a program executed by the CPU performs processing by exchanging data with each other by specifying and accessing the memory address. It is possible. In this example, an operation sound signal output program, a ringtone signal output program, a setting information acquisition program, and a switching program are stored in the storage device, and these programs are automatically read from the storage device when the power is turned on, for example. And resides in main memory.
Similarly, the setting information stored in the storage device is automatically read from the storage device when the power is turned on, for example, and resides in the main memory.
The example in which the program is stored on the storage device and read to the main memory at the start of the system has been described above. However, if the storage device is specifically a non-volatile memory such as a flash memory, the system start-up Instead of reading and executing the program on the main memory each time, the program may be executed on the flash memory.

Next, a hardware configuration related to each unit will be specifically described. First, a hardware configuration related to the setting information holding unit will be described. In the storage device, setting information generated in advance is held as non-volatile information. Or the structure of hold | maintaining the setting information read from the memory | storage device to the main memory which is a setting information holding part may be sufficient. Examples of specific contents of the setting information are as described above.
Next, a hardware configuration related to the setting information acquisition unit will be described. When the setting information acquisition program detects operation information and / or incoming information corresponding to an operation or incoming call, the setting information acquisition program reads, for example, setting information stored in the main memory. If the setting information is held separately for the setting information for operation sound signal output and the setting information for ringtone signal output, for example, when there is operation information, only the setting information for operation sound signal output Can be read out.
Next, a hardware configuration related to the switching unit will be described. The switching program performs switching according to the setting information read by the setting information acquisition program through the above processing. Specifically, for example, when the setting information is information that “the output destination is determined to be switched to the directional speaker”, a switching instruction “switch the output destination to the directional speaker” is generated accordingly. Based on this switching command, I / O is set to perform switching.

<Process flow>
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a flow of processing in the portable communication terminal according to the present embodiment.
As shown in the figure, first, the portable communication terminal makes the determination in the determination step S0601 as to whether or not the operation information and / or the incoming information is detected. The process proceeds to setting information acquisition step S0602 to acquire setting information.
Next, the portable communication terminal determines whether the signal output destination according to the setting information acquired in step S0602 is a non-directional speaker, a directional speaker, another interface, or a combination. (Step S0603). If the determination result is a non-directional speaker, the portable communication terminal switches the signal output destination to the non-directional speaker (step S0604). Further, the portable communication terminal outputs the operation sound signal and / or the ring tone signal from the non-directional speaker based on the operation information and / or the incoming information (step S0605).

On the other hand, if the determination result is a directional speaker, the portable communication terminal switches the signal output destination to the directional speaker (step S0606). Furthermore, the portable communication terminal outputs the operation sound signal and / or the ring tone signal from the directional speaker based on the operation information and / or the incoming call information (step S0607).
If the determination result is that the interface is another interface (for example, vibration output means), the portable communication terminal switches the signal output destination to the interface (step S0608). Further, the portable communication terminal outputs the operation sound signal and / or the ring tone signal from the interface based on the operation information and / or the incoming information (step S0609).
Here, the non-directional speaker or the directional speaker and other interfaces may be selected at the same time. For example, vibration output can be performed together with audio output. (Although not specifically shown in FIG. 6, it is controlled in S0603.)

As described above, the interface to which the output destination is switched may be determined according to the function state such as the manner mode. Here, for the convenience of understanding the present invention, a very general processing flow is shown in the manner mode example.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a processing flow in the portable communication terminal of the present invention, and shows a general processing flow in such a case as an example of an output of a ringing tone signal. The flow of processing is shown in accordance with a specific example. For the sake of simplicity, the illustration of the steps for obtaining the setting information is omitted.

First, the portable communication terminal makes such a determination in the determination step S0701 as to whether or not incoming information has been detected, and in the case of a determination result that it has been detected, in the setting information acquisition step (not shown), settings related to incoming calls are made. Get information.
Next, the terminal makes such a determination in the determination step of whether or not the manner mode is selected (step S0702). As a result, when it is determined that the manner mode has not been selected, notification is performed by switching to a non-directional speaker, for example, according to the setting information acquired above (step S0703). Here, the timing for acquiring the setting information regarding the incoming call may be determined after determining whether or not the manner mode is selected.

  On the other hand, in the above determination, if the determination result that the manner mode is selected is obtained, the portable communication terminal performs the determination in determination step S0704 as to whether or not mute is set, and is set. If the determination result is obtained, a process of not notifying with sound is performed (step S0705). On the other hand, if a determination result that mute is not set is obtained, the process proceeds to step S0706 to determine whether vibration is set, and the determination is performed. As a result, when a determination result that it is set is obtained, notification is made by switching to vibration (step S0707).

  On the other hand, when the determination result that the vibration is not set is obtained, according to the setting information acquired above, for example, the notification is switched to the directional speaker (step S0708). Note that both the process in step S0703 and the process in step S0708 follow the setting information. For example, after setting a non-directional speaker or a directional speaker with the setting information, a rule defined separately is “Manner mode is set. , Specify a directional speaker when the mute or vibration is not set, and a non-directional speaker when the manner mode is not set. Different processing can be performed. Alternatively, the setting information itself is defined as “switching to a directional speaker or a non-directional speaker”, and in addition to the setting information, function state information described later (in this case, information indicating whether the manner mode is set) Switching may be performed accordingly. Although one output has been described above, audio output and vibration output can be performed simultaneously by setting as described above.

<Effect>
According to the invention of this embodiment, it is possible to reliably notify the user of incoming calls and operations, and it is possible not to cause trouble for other people around. In addition, it is possible to provide a portable communication terminal capable of setting / switching according to a change in environment and an operation method thereof.

<Overview>
The portable communication terminal of this embodiment is basically the same as the portable communication terminal of the first embodiment. However, the terminal according to the present embodiment is characterized in that the directional speaker is arranged on the surface on which the operation function component and a display for displaying operation related information by the operation function component are arranged.

<Configuration>
(General)
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of an arrangement of a display that displays a directional speaker, an operation function component, and operation-related information by the operation function component in the portable communication terminal of the present embodiment. Of these, FIG. 8A shows a typical arrangement. In this figure, the directional speaker 0840 of the portable communication terminal 0800 of this example is disposed on the surface on which the operation function component 0801 and the display 0802 for displaying operation related information by this operation function component are disposed. It is shown. Alternatively, as another arrangement example, as shown in FIG. 8B, the display 0802 of the portable communication terminal 0800 occupies almost the entire operation surface, and the directional speaker 0840 and the operation function component 0801 are included in the display. May be arranged. In this case, the operation functional component may be a touch panel, for example.

  The purpose of the present embodiment is that the directional speaker, the operation function component, and the display that displays the operation-related information by the operation function component are generally the operations that are generally facing the user's head when using the terminal. By arranging them on the surface, the user is surely notified by voice output from a directional speaker that an operation function component such as an operation key is properly pressed.

(Hardware configuration)
FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the portable communication terminal according to the present embodiment. The hardware configuration of the portable communication terminal of this embodiment is basically the same as that of the first embodiment.
However, as shown in the figure, in this embodiment, the directional speaker 0908, the operation function component 0909, and the display 0910 connected via the “I / O” 0904 are all the same surface (in the figure, for convenience. (Shown as “operation surface”).

<Effect>
According to the invention of the present embodiment, it is possible to reliably notify the user that an operation function component such as an operation key is properly pressed by outputting a sound from a directional speaker.

<Overview>
The portable communication terminal of this embodiment is basically the same as the terminal of the first embodiment. However, the terminal of this embodiment has means for detecting a state in which the user's face is almost directly facing the operation surface, and means for switching according to the detection result of the means. It is characterized by having

<Configuration>
FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of functional blocks of the portable communication terminal according to the present embodiment. As shown in the figure, the configuration of the “portable communication terminal” 1000 of this embodiment is basically the same as that of the portable communication terminal of the first embodiment or the like. However, the terminal of this embodiment has a “detection unit” 1095 and the “switching unit” has “detection result switching means”. Hereinafter, the configuration of these means will be described. Other configurations are the same as those of the terminal of the first embodiment and the description thereof is omitted.

(Detection unit)
The “detection unit” is for detecting a state in which the user's face is almost directly facing the operation surface. The range of “substantially directly” does not have to be strict, but generally refers to a range that can be heard by the user when sound is output from a directional speaker. When the terminal is being held by the user and the user's face is almost directly in such a range, the user can hear the incoming call by using a directional speaker, There is a high probability that the user can be surely notified of the operation. Conversely, if it is not in such a state, the probability of being heard by the user is low even if a directional speaker is used, and it is considered that the significance of using a directional speaker is weak. Therefore, an object of the configuration of the present embodiment is to detect whether or not the user's face is substantially facing the operation surface so that the interface can be switched. In other words, this embodiment is mainly intended for use in selecting whether to switch the detection result to a directional speaker. Therefore, in the terminal of this embodiment, it is desirable that the directional speaker is disposed on the operation surface or the display surface.

As a timing at which the detection unit performs such detection, for example, detection may be automatically performed when setting information is acquired. Alternatively, the detection may be automatically performed when the terminal is turned on. Detection may be performed on the basis of pressing of a detection key by a user (this key may also be used as a normal operation key).
As specific means for such detection, a known technique such as an image recognition processing technique can be used.

(Switching unit: Detection result switching means)
Next, the “detection result switching means” of the “switching unit” is configured not only to follow the setting information but also to switch according to the detection result of the detection unit. In light of the above-described purpose, the detection result switching means typically switches the output destination to a directional speaker when detecting a state in which the user's face is generally facing the operation surface or the display surface. Configured.

(Hardware configuration)
Next, the hardware configuration of the portable communication terminal according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.
The hardware configuration of the portable communication terminal of this embodiment is basically the same as that of the first embodiment.
However, as shown in FIG. 5, in this embodiment, a detection program is stored in the storage device (this program is also automatically read into the main memory when the power is turned on, for example). For example, when the setting information is acquired according to the same procedure as described in the first embodiment, the detection program detects whether or not the user's face is substantially facing the operation surface. I do. As a means for this detection, for example, a human sensor as shown in FIG. 3 is connected. In addition, it is also possible to operate the camera unit and detect whether or not the user's face is substantially facing from the video information obtained therefrom. As a specific configuration for detection processing, a known technology such as an image recognition processing technology can be used.
Other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment and the description thereof is omitted.

<Process flow>
FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of the flow of processing in the portable communication terminal of the present embodiment. The processing flow shown in this figure is basically the same as the processing flow of the first embodiment. However, in the present embodiment, when the setting information is acquired, the portable communication terminal performs such detection to detect a state in which the portable communication terminal is gripped and the user's face is substantially facing the operation surface (step S1103). Then, in step S1104, whether or not the detection result indicates whether or not the user's face is substantially facing. If the determination result indicates that the user's face is facing substantially, the portable communication terminal The process proceeds to determination step S1105 to determine whether the signal output destination according to the instruction is a non-directional speaker, a directional speaker, or another interface, and performs the determination. In light of the above-described object of the present embodiment, in the case of such a detection result in the setting information, it is desirable to set the directional speaker as the switching destination. Therefore, it is preferable that the determination is switched to the directional speaker. It can be considered to be a judgment result.
Since the other processing flow is the same as that of the first embodiment, the description thereof is omitted.

<Effect>
According to the invention of the present embodiment, when the user's face is directly facing the operation surface or the display surface, it is possible to reliably notify the user of an incoming call or operation using a directional speaker.

<Overview>
The portable communication terminal of this embodiment is basically the same as the terminal of the first embodiment. However, the terminal of this embodiment is characterized in that the directional speaker and the non-directional speaker are one speaker having both functions.

<Configuration>
The configuration of the portable communication terminal of this embodiment is basically the same as that of the first embodiment. However, the directional speaker and the non-directional speaker in the terminal of this embodiment are one speaker having both functions. The purpose of this configuration is to make the portable communication terminal more compact.

Thus, in order to provide both functions of a directional speaker and a non-directional speaker with a single speaker, it is necessary to be a speaker that can reproduce a wideband sound. Since it is disclosed (see Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-299194), such a known technique can be used.
With such a speaker capable of reproducing from the audible sound band to the ultrasonic band, the non-directional speaker and the directional speaker of the present invention can be realized.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of functional blocks related to audio output switching of the portable communication terminal according to the present embodiment. As shown in the figure, in the terminal of the present embodiment, voice information such as operation voice information, incoming voice information and telephone voice is output in the non-directional speaker mode, in the directional speaker mode, or otherwise. Are output by the interface 1209 or switched by the switching unit 1270 as appropriate. Audio information in the non-directional speaker mode is amplified by the audio amplifying unit 1203. On the other hand, in the directional speaker mode, audio information is modulated into an ultrasonic carrier wave by the ultrasonic modulation unit 1204 and amplified as appropriate. These are switched by the voice switching unit 1202 according to the speaker mode information, and the output is output to the broadband speaker 1201.

(Hardware configuration)
FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the portable communication terminal according to the present embodiment. The hardware configuration of the portable communication terminal of this embodiment is basically the same as that of the first embodiment, but is connected via an “I / O” 3104 in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. The directional speaker and the non-directional speaker are one speaker having both functions.

<Effect>
According to the invention of the present embodiment, the audio information output from the portable communication terminal can be heard from the same speaker, leading to improved convenience and the possibility of further compactness.

The figure for demonstrating the outline | summary of the portable communication terminal of this invention The figure which shows an example of the functional block of the portable communication terminal of Example 1. FIG. The figure which shows an example of the functional block of the portable communication terminal of Example 1. FIG. The figure which shows an example of the variation of setting information Schematic which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of the portable communication terminal of Example 1. FIG. The figure which shows an example of the flow of a process in the portable communication terminal of Example 1. The figure which shows an example of the flow of a process in the portable communication terminal of this invention The figure which shows an example of arrangement | positioning of the display which displays the operation related information by the directional speaker in the portable communication terminal of Example 2, an operation function component, and an operation function component. Schematic which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of the portable communication terminal of Example 2. FIG. The figure which shows an example of the functional block of the portable communication terminal of Example 3. The figure which shows an example of the flow of a process in the portable communication terminal of Example 3. The figure which shows an example of the functional block which concerns on the audio | voice output switching of the portable communication terminal of Example 4. FIG. Schematic which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of the portable communication terminal of Example 4. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

0100 portable communication terminal 0130 speaker 0200 portable communication terminal 0210 operation sound signal output unit 0220 incoming sound signal output unit 0230 non-directional speaker 0240 directional speaker 0250 setting information holding unit 0260 setting information acquisition unit 0270 switching unit

Claims (5)

An operation sound signal output unit for outputting an operation sound signal based on the operation information;
A ringtone signal output unit for outputting a ringtone signal based on the incoming call information;
An interface for outputting the operation sound signal and / or the ring tone signal;
A non-directional speaker;
A directional speaker;
At least one of vibration output means, display, light emitting means, wireless external communication means, built-in memory, e-mail means, external memory means, wired output means or communication transmission means;
Non-directional speaker, directional speaker, or vibration output means, display, light emitting means, wireless external communication means, built-in memory, e-mail means, external memory means, wired output means or communication transmission A setting information holding unit for holding setting information for determining signal switching to an interface that is at least one of the means;
A setting information acquisition unit that acquires setting information from the setting information holding unit based on the operation information and the incoming call information ;
A switching unit that switches the signal output destination to any one of the interfaces according to the acquired setting information;
A portable communication terminal.   The portable communication terminal according to claim 1, wherein the directional speaker is disposed on a surface on which an operation function component and a display for displaying operation-related information by the operation function component are disposed. A detection unit for detecting a state in which the user's face is generally facing the gripped operation surface;
The portable communication terminal according to claim 1, wherein the switching unit includes a detection result switching unit that switches according to a detection result of the detection unit.   The portable communication according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the directional speaker and the non-directional speaker are one speaker having both functions, and are supplied with an audio signal and / or an ultrasonic carrier signal. Terminal. Non-directional speaker, directional speaker and vibration output means, display, light emitting means, wireless external communication means, built-in memory, e-mail means, external memory means, wired output means, or communication transmission means equipped with at least one An operation method of a communication terminal,
A determination step for determining whether operation information and incoming call information are detected;
If the determination result in the determination step is a determination result that is detected, the interface is a signal output destination and is a non-directional speaker, a directional speaker, or a vibration output means, a display, a light emitting means, a wireless external communication means A setting information obtaining step for obtaining setting information for determining signal switching to an interface which is at least one of at least one of a built-in memory, an e-mail means, an external memory means, a wired output means or a communication sending means;
A switching step of switching the signal output destination to any one of the interfaces according to the obtained setting information;
A method for operating a portable communication terminal.

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