JP5652835B2 - Mobile terminal device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a mobile terminal device provided with communication means and the like, and more particularly to a mobile terminal device that detects whether or not a user is in contact with the mobile terminal device.

  2. Description of the Related Art A mobile terminal device (for example, a mobile phone) that executes a navigation function by starting an application program for indicating traffic information is known. In this type of mobile terminal device, a system that periodically acquires position information by GPS or acquires and updates a map image necessary for executing the application program is employed from the start to the end of the application program.

  A user who has this type of mobile terminal device and uses the navigation function to move from the current position to the destination should at least view the map image displayed on the display screen of the mobile terminal device when necessary. Confirmation of traffic information such as location and destination is required. The confirmation of such traffic information is necessary, for example, when it is required to select one route from a plurality of branches, or when it is confirmed that the route up to the present time is not wrong. However, once the user confirms the current position once at a point on the moving route such as an intersection or a remarkable building, the user often does not confirm the traffic information of the current position and the destination for a while.

  In such a case, in the portable terminal device with the navigation function, the application program for navigation is started, and once the traffic information such as the current position and the destination is confirmed, the application program is started, For a while, for example, until reaching the next intersection, it is often the case that the map image displayed on the display screen of the mobile terminal device is not viewed.

Nevertheless, even during a period when the user does not check the display screen, it is wasteful of the power of the mobile terminal device to acquire the location information or update the map image at regular intervals, that is, periodically. To consume.
Patent Document 1 proposes a method of automatically setting positioning timing by GPS based on the number of steps data of the user of the mobile terminal device from the viewpoint of power saving to reduce power consumption of the mobile terminal device.

JP 2009-92506 A

  However, in the positioning timing automatic setting method applied in the portable terminal device of Patent Document 1, the position information used when the user confirms the display screen is acquired at the timing predicted based on the step count data up to that time. . Therefore, the position information displayed on the display screen by the positioning timing automatic setting method of the portable terminal device of Patent Document 1, not necessarily the position information when the user actually confirms the display screen. That is, the portable terminal device of Patent Literature 1 cannot update the position information or the map image based on the data acquired at the time of confirmation by the user. As described above, the portable terminal device of Patent Document 1 has a problem to be solved that it is impossible to execute acquisition of appropriate position information or acquisition and update of a map image at an appropriate timing.

  Therefore, in view of the above circumstances, the present invention provides a portable terminal device, a control method, and a program that execute acquisition of appropriate position information or acquisition of map images at an appropriate timing while saving power. It is the purpose.

The portable terminal device of the present invention is
An instruction unit for instructing execution of various programs including a map application program;
A display unit for displaying a display screen of the map application program;
A communication unit for acquiring position information and map information used in the map application program;
A first sensor that detects a user's contact state and a second sensor, and a detector that determines whether or not both sensors detect the contact state;
The first sensor and the second sensor are spaced apart on both sides of the housing,
The detection unit calculates a detection result of whether both sensors detect a contact state every predetermined time,
The communication unit updates the position information and map information when the detection result is a value indicating a contact state,
The display unit darkens the brightness of the display screen when the detection result is a value indicating that the detection result is not in a contact state;
Is.

  According to the portable terminal device, the control method, and the program of the present invention, the portable terminal device, the control method, and the program that execute the acquisition of appropriate position information or the acquisition and update of the map image at an appropriate timing while saving power. Can be provided.

The block diagram which shows the portable terminal device in embodiment of this invention The flowchart which shows the procedure until the portable terminal device acquires the location information by GPS or acquires and updates the map image and controls the display output. The figure which shows the sliding open / close state of the portable terminal device 1

  A mobile terminal device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a mobile terminal device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. A mobile terminal device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an instruction unit 11 that instructs execution of various application programs, a display unit 8 that displays the various application programs, a communication unit 9 that receives various information, and a mobile terminal device. And a communication unit 9 for controlling the communication frequency of the communication unit 9 based on the detection result (contact state) of whether or not the user is in contact. A display control unit 5 that controls the display unit 8, a detection control unit 7, a ROM 13, a RAM 2, and a CPU 4 are connected to each other via a bus 12.

  The mobile terminal device 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention may be executed by a program recorded in the ROM 13, and the program includes an instruction unit 11 that instructs execution of various application programs, and the various application programs. A function of detecting whether or not the user is in contact with the mobile terminal device 1, a program for the mobile terminal device 1 including a display unit 8 for displaying the information and a communication unit 9 for receiving various types of information, The portable terminal device 1 is caused to execute a function of controlling the communication frequency of the communication unit 9 based on the detection result of whether or not the terminal is in contact.

  Hereinafter, in the embodiment of the present invention, the mobile terminal device 1 will be described as a slide-open mobile phone as shown in FIG. 3, but the mobile terminal device 1 may be a notebook personal computer, other personal computer, PDA (Personal Digital Assistant). ), A digital camera or the like.

  The communication unit 9 receives various types of information. For example, when the instruction unit 11 instructs the execution of an application program related to a navigation function (indicating a map and a user's walking situation), a map image is acquired. The map image acquisition frequency is controlled based on the detection result of whether or not the user is in contact. For this purpose, the communication unit 9 includes a network communication unit 9N and a position information acquisition unit 9G. The network communication unit 9N has functions such as a telephone call, a mail, and the Internet using a PHS, a mobile phone, an IP phone, and the like. The position information acquisition unit 9G has a function such as GPS communication. The communication unit 9 further has a function of controlling the position information acquisition frequency of the position information acquisition unit 9G based on the contact state indicating whether or not the user is in contact with the housing.

  The display unit 8 is controlled by the display control unit 5 and displays various application programs. The display control unit 5 controls the brightness of the display unit 8 based on the result (contact state) detected by the detection unit 10 as to whether or not the user is in contact.

The detection unit 10 includes, for example, a touch sensor 10R and a touch sensor 10L as illustrated in FIG. The touch sensors 10 </ b> R and 10 </ b> L are provided on the right side surface and the left side surface of the casing of the mobile terminal device 1, respectively.
The touch sensor 10 </ b> R and the touch sensor 10 </ b> L detect that the user is touching the mobile terminal device 1. The position information indicates the position of the mobile terminal device 1 and is, for example, a GPS signal.

  The mobile terminal device 1 is equipped with a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 4, and the CPU 4 is connected to each part in the device via a bus 12. As described above, the ROM (Read Only Memory) 13 among these stores various control programs and fixed data to be executed by the CPU 4, and the RAM (Random Access Memory) 2 is stored in the CPU 4. Data temporarily required for execution is stored.

When an application program with a navigation function is executed, the current position information (position data) or map image (image data) is also stored in a predetermined area of the RAM 2.
The display control unit 5 is a control circuit that controls display on the display unit 8. The display unit 8 is a display device such as a monochrome or color liquid crystal panel, organic EL (electrofluorescence), or CRT.
The communication control unit 6 is a control circuit that controls the communication unit 9. For example, the communication unit 9G is a device that performs GPS communication.
The detection control unit 7 is a control circuit that controls the touch sensor 10R and the touch sensor 10L. The touch sensors 10R and 10L are sensor devices that detect that a person is touching. The touch sensors 10R and 10L are attached to the left and right with reference to the display direction of the display on the side of the main body as shown in FIG.
Moreover, the instruction | indication part 11 may be a button of the portable terminal device 1, for example, as shown in FIG.

Next, a procedure from when the mobile terminal device 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention performs acquisition of position information by GPS or execution of an application program by the CPU 4 to control display output will be described with reference to FIG.
When the user gives an instruction through the instruction unit 11, the mobile terminal device 1 starts an application program with a navigation function. Then, the communication unit 9 acquires the first map information indicating the current position, and displays an image of the map information on the display unit 6.
After the image display on the display unit 6 is completed, the position information acquisition unit 9G acquires the GPS signal, acquires the position information, and updates the map image.

  The portable terminal device 1 confirms whether or not the application program is being activated via the instruction unit 11 (STEP 1). Next, when the application program is activated (STEP 1; YES), it is detected whether or not the user is touching the touch sensor 10R (STEP 2). When the user is in contact with the touch sensor 10R (STEP 2; YES), it is detected whether or not the user is in contact with the touch sensor 10L (STEP 3). If YES in any of STEPs 2 and 3, it is determined that the user is checking the display screen of the display unit 8, and the location information acquisition unit 9G acquires the location information and the network communication unit 9N obtains the map information. Is updated (STEP 4). As described above, in a state where the user is in contact with the touch sensor 10R and the touch sensor 10L, the process is performed so as to perform the acquisition of the position information by the position information acquisition unit 9G and the update of the map information by the network communication unit 9N.

When the user is not touching the touch sensor 10R (STEP2; NO), or when the user is not touching the touch sensor 10L (STEP3; NO), the display control unit 5 reduces the illuminance on the screen of the display unit 6. The display output is controlled as described above (STEP 5).
After the position information acquisition unit 9G acquires the position information or the network communication unit 9N acquires and updates the map information (STEP 4), the CPU 4 determines whether or not a predetermined period has elapsed (STEP 6). When the predetermined period has not elapsed (STEP 6; NO), the CPU 4 stands by until the predetermined period elapses.
On the other hand, when the predetermined period has elapsed (STEP 6; YES), the CPU 4 checks again whether or not the application program is activated (STEP 1), and re-executes the process so that the flow procedure returns. . As the flow procedure returns in this way, it is possible to acquire position information and update map information at the timing when the user contacts the mobile terminal device 1.

The predetermined period may be 10 seconds, 1 minute, or an interval of about 30 minutes.
Further, the instruction unit 11 can set the predetermined period.
Further, in the case of the mobile terminal device 1 as shown in FIG. 3, when the user wants to brighten the dark display unit 6, the user's hand touches the touch sensors 10 </ b> R and 10 </ b> L from the time when the mobile terminal device 1 is lifted. Therefore, if the application program is in the activated state as described above, processing such as acquisition of position information and acquisition / update of map images can be automatically started. It is possible to save the trouble of giving instructions via the.

  The mobile terminal device 1 has a function of detecting whether or not the user is in contact with the mobile terminal device and controlling the communication frequency of the communication unit 9 based on the detection result of whether or not the user is in contact. Appropriately acquired or updated information can be displayed only when confirming the display screen of the mobile terminal device, and communication such as acquisition of GPS position information and image acquisition update of map information that consumes a lot of power. It is possible to reduce the number of times of power consumption and to save power. Furthermore, even in the case of an application program without a navigation function, it is possible to reduce the number of updates of image acquisition by determining whether the user confirms the display unit 6 based on the detection result of the detection unit 10. Can be obtained.

1 Mobile terminal device 2 RAM
4 CPU
5 Display control unit 6 Communication control unit 7 Detection control unit 8 Display unit 9 Communication unit 9G Position information acquisition unit 9N Network communication unit 10 Detection unit 10R Touch sensor (right)
10L touch sensor (left)
11 Instruction unit 13 ROM

Claims (1)

An instruction unit for instructing execution of various programs including a map application program and setting of operation conditions at the time of execution ;
A display unit for displaying a display screen of the map application program;
A communication unit for acquiring position information and map information used in the map application program;
A first sensor that detects a user's contact state and a second sensor, and a detector that determines whether or not both sensors detect the contact state;
The first sensor and the second sensor are spaced apart on both sides of the housing,
The detection unit calculates a detection result of whether both sensors detect a contact state for each time set by the instruction unit ,
The communication unit updates the position information and map information once every time the detection result calculates a value indicating a contact state, and the position is detected when the detection result is a value indicating that the detection result is not a contact state. Without updating information and map information,
The display unit darkens the brightness of the display screen when the detection result is a value indicating that the detection result is not in a contact state;
The portable terminal device characterized by the above-mentioned.

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