JPH03284030A - Communication state display device for mobile telephone set - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily confirm the feasibility of data transmission/ reception by monitoring a reception level from a mobile telephone set with a signal monitoring storage means, and deciding and displaying whether or not difference between the reception levels before and behind exceeds a prescribed threshold value by an arithmetic means. CONSTITUTION:The CPU 13 of a line connection control circuit fetches a sent out reception level, and compares the reception level fetched last time with the one fetched this time, and subtracts the reception level fetched this time from the one fetched last time, and calculates the difference between them. It is judged whether or not the difference of the reception levels before and behind exceeds the prescribed threshold value set at a working margin as facsimile equipment 60. When the difference of the reception levels is less than the threshold value of the working margin of the equipment 60, usable display 39a is turned on by assuming that the equipment 60 can be used under a desirable condition. However, when the difference of the reception levels exceeds the threshold value of the working margin of the equipment 60, unusable display 39b is turned on assuming that it is undesirable to use the equipment 60. When such display is shown in the middle stage of the reception of an image, it is judged that the quality of a reception image is inferior, and a re-transmission request is issued.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to reception status monitoring of large-capacity telephone mobile equipment, and in particular to telephones that monitor reception status suitable for data transmission and reception such as facsimile communication. The present invention relates to a communication status display device for a mobile device.

[Prior Art] A communication status display lamp is disposed on the main body operation panel of a facsimile machine connected to a high-capacity telephone mobile device, and one that lights up when the radio wave condition is poor has been commercialized. ing.

[Problem to be solved by the invention] However, for example, even if the communication status indicator lamp indicates that the radio wave condition is poor, a car phone can be used normally, or a facsimile machine cannot be used. In some cases, transmission and reception can be performed so well that no deterioration in image quality can be observed, and poor radio wave conditions did not necessarily negate the use of car telephones or facsimile machines.

On the other hand, even if such a communication status indicator lamp indicates that the radio wave condition is poor, it does not negate the use of a car phone or facsimile machine, so the purpose of installing a communication status indicator lamp is being lost. . In particular, according to experiments conducted by the inventors of the present invention, it has been confirmed that in a facsimile machine, there is no change in image quality when the communication status display lamp is normally turned on. It was also confirmed that even when a car was driving in an area with no radio interference, there was a drop in image quality when transitioning between relay stations.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in response to the above-mentioned situation, and an object of the present invention is to provide a communication status display device for a mobile phone that monitors the communication status suitable for data transmission and reception such as facsimile communication.

[Means for Solving the Problems] A line control device for a mobile phone according to the present invention monitors the reception level of a radio wave reception state using a downlink serial signal from the mobile phone, and checks the reception level at predetermined intervals. a signal monitoring storage means for storing and a calculation means for determining whether a difference between a plurality of successive reception levels obtained by the signal monitoring storage means is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold set as a usage limit for data transmission and reception such as facsimile communication; and display means for displaying the determination result of the calculation means.

[Operation] In the present invention, the signal monitoring and storage means monitors the reception level of the radio wave reception state based on the downlink serial signal from the mobile phone, and stores the reception level at every predetermined time. Then, the calculation means determines whether the difference between the successive reception levels obtained by the signal monitoring storage means is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold set as the usage limit for data transmission and reception such as facsimile communication. The determination result is displayed on the display means.

Therefore, the arithmetic means compares the difference between a plurality of successive reception levels obtained by the signal monitoring and storage means, and when the reception level difference is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, an error occurs in the communication data, so the display means displays the status. indicate.

[Example] Examples of the present invention will now be described.

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a communication status display device for a mobile telephone according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a display panel of a communication status display device for a mobile telephone according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG.

In the figure, the present embodiment is a facsimile device 60 to which a handset 2 as a telephone device is connected, and moreover, via the mobile phone 1 of the present embodiment, one communication line of a commercial telephone line network and telephone communication and facsimile communication are connected. It is used for communication. Normally, the line control device (hereinafter simply referred to as rNCUJ) 10 connects the mobile phone 1 and the handset 2, and when the switch 38 is operated, the mobile phone 1 connects to the communication controller 30 and the printer & scanner 50. A connection is made to a facsimile machine 60 equipped with a facsimile machine 60.

A mobile phone 1 serving as a mobile phone in this embodiment is constituted by a known radio transmitter/receiver. The handset 2 includes a handset and the like when the device of this embodiment is used as a telephone, and is a well-known car telephone.

More specifically, the overall configuration of the facsimile device 60 is basically the same as that of a conventional office facsimile device, except that the power supply circuit 41 receives power from the on-board battery 3. For the embodiment of the present invention, a communication control circuit (CPU) 33 consisting of a microcomputer of the communication controller 30 stores a program for performing a line connection request operation, which will be described later.

The facsimile device 60 includes an NCUIO1 communication controller 30 and a printer and scanner 50.

The NCUIO has an audio signal line 17S (sending), an audio signal line 17R (receiving) as well as an audio signal line 17R (receiving), and its switching relays 14 and 15, an AMP II, a PAD 12, a relay driver (RD) 21, and a power supply, similar to that of a facsimile machine for general office use. & CPU monitoring device 20, and serial signal line 18S (transmission) for car phone control
and a serial signal line 18R (receiving), which identifies the reception level of the radio wave reception state based on the down serial signal of the serial signal line 18H from the mobile phone 1, and stores the reception level at predetermined time intervals. A line connection control circuit 13 is provided which also functions as a storage means, and the line connection control circuit 13 outputs a signal for controlling relay switching of the switching relays 14 and 15. The line connection control circuit 13 is composed of a microcomputer, and has a built-in program constituting a signal monitoring storage means to be described later.

Further, the communication controller 30 of the facsimile machine 60 of this embodiment is configured as follows.

The modem 31 is a modulator/demodulator that modulates and demodulates a digital signal using a carrier wave in a known audio frequency range. The communication control circuit 33 is a circuit for program-controlling the facsimile device 60, which is composed of a microcomputer or the like, and has a built-in program constituting a calculation means to be described later.

The ROM 34 is added as an expansion memory, and is a memory in which a program for controlling the communication control circuit 33 is stored. The RAM 35 is a readable and writable memory that receives signals from the communication control circuit 33 and directly stores image data from the modem 31. The encoding/decoding circuit 36 directly stores image data from the modem 31 or stores it in RAM.
It has a storage and control function for transferring and storing the image data temporarily stored in the memory 35 and outputting it to the line memory 37 as line data of a predetermined paper length. The line memory 37 stores the data stored in the encoding/decoding circuit 36 and outputs the stored data as 8-bit parallel data for each row.

In the display circuit 39, as shown in the front view of the main part of the display section in FIG. The available display 39a and the unusable display 39b display "available" and "unusable", and also indicate "communicating" and "unavailable".
paper supply.”

It is equipped with an "error" display.

Further, the power supply circuit 41 receives power from the vehicle battery 3 and converts it into various constant voltages. The power supply control circuit 42 supplies various constant voltages from the power supply circuit 41 to each component using the communication switch 38, the communication control circuit 33, the document sensor 52, etc., which are operated when transmitting a document.

Signals from a communication switch 38 and a manual/automatic reception switch 40 for switching between manual reception and automatic reception are input to the communication control circuit 33, and the signals received by the mobile phone 1 are transmitted to the mobile handset for the car. It is used to set a function that allows reception without going through the facsimile 2, and is used, for example, to automatically receive facsimile communications when the passenger is absent.

Further, the printer and scanner 50 of the facsimile machine 60 of this embodiment is configured as follows.

The sensor interface gate array 71 is used for printing control of the thermal head 55 and outputs serial data to the thermal head 55 that prints parallel data on thermal paper. The thermal head controller 58 supplies power to the thermal head 55 and controls printing. The paper feed motor 54 is a pulse motor that feeds the thermal paper by one wheel, and is driven via a motor driver 57. The image sensor 56 that reads the original is
The signal is input to the sensor interface gate array 71 via the binarization circuit 59.

Each component of the printer and scanner 50 is controlled by the print reading control circuit 51, but since the control method thereof is well known and is not directly related to the gist of the present invention, it will be described here. A detailed explanation thereof will be omitted.

The line connection control circuit 13 of the NCUIO of this embodiment, the communication controller 30 of the facsimile machine 60, and the printer/scanner 50 transmit and receive known signals in the following manner in relation to the above-mentioned components.

When the power is turned on, the NCUIO line connection control circuit 13
performs line connection control, and the communication control circuit 33 of the communication controller 30 performs a line connection request operation.

That is, when the line connection control circuit 13 is powered on, it initializes its internal memory and outputs a signal to the output port when it is on standby (no communication, waiting for a command). As a result, both of the switching relays 14 and 15 are non-conductive, and they are connected to the handset 2 side shown in FIG. 1. The line connection control circuit 13 is connected to the mobile phone 1
The line connection control circuit 13 enters a standby state in which it waits for a line request signal from the commercial telephone line via the line connection control circuit 13.

At this time, the line connection control circuit 13 receives the code of reception level data of the radio wave reception state and its reception level via the serial signal line 18R from the mobile phone 1.

Incidentally, the identification of the reception level data included in the downlink serial signal is as follows, where "1100" means reception level data and "
"X8 X2 Xi XO" means the reception level. And "X3
It is divided into 6 parts.

Next, the control operations of the concave line connection control circuit 13 and the communication control circuit 33 in the communication state of the communication state display device of the mobile phone according to the embodiment of the present invention will be explained.

The basic operation of the communication control circuit 33 is as shown in the flowchart of the line connection control circuit 13 of the NCUIO of the communication status display device for a mobile phone according to an embodiment of the present invention in FIG.

Initialization is performed in step S1, and in step S2, a signal from the handset 2 is taken into the line connection control circuit 13 of the NCUIO, and signal processing is performed so as to send it out as an uplink serial signal from the serial signal line 18S. Also, step S
Serial signal line 18 from car telephone mobile station 1 at 3
The R downlink serial signal is taken into the line connection control circuit 13. It is determined whether or not the code of reception level data exists in the down serial signal of the serial signal line 18R taken in in step S4, and if it exists, the reception level of the reception level data is set to the line connection control in step S5. It is stored in the memory built into the circuit 13.

In step S6, the signal acquired from the handset 2 in step S2 is processed and the serial signal line 18S is
It is sent as an upstream serial signal. A signal is output to the communication control circuit 33 of the communication controller 30 of the handset 2 or the facsimile device 60 in accordance with the down serial signal of the serial signal line 18R taken in from the mobile phone 1 to the line connection control circuit 13 in step S7.

In step S8, the communication control circuit 3 of the communication controller 30
3, it is determined whether it is the transmission timing to send out the reception level, and when it is the transmission timing, the reception level stored in the memory is called up in step S9, and it is sent to the communication control circuit 33 of the communication controller 30 in step SIO. do. If it is not the transmission timing to send out the reception level in step S8, the processing in step S9 and step S10 is avoided.

In step Sll, it is determined whether the switching relays 14, 15 are connected to the facsimile device 60, and if the mobile phone 1 and the facsimile device 60 are not connected, a line request signal is sent from the facsimile device 60 in step S12. If there is no line request signal, the routine from step S2 to step S12 is repeatedly executed. Also, when there is a line request signal from the facsimile machine 60 in step 812, step 8
At step 13, the mobile phone 1 and the facsimile device 60 are brought into a connected state by signals for relay switching control from the switching relays 14 and 15.

Then, in step 811 in the next process, the switching relay 14
．． 15 is connected to the facsimile device 60, the facsimile device 6 is connected to the facsimile device 60 in step S14.
It is determined whether the line request signal continues from the 0 side, and if it continues, the routine from step S2 to step Sll and step 514 is repeatedly executed.

When the routine from step S2 to step 811 and step S14 is repeatedly executed, if it is determined in step S14 that there is no line request signal from the facsimile machine 60, the switching relay 14.1 is determined in step 515.
The car phone mobile device 1 is activated by the relay switching control signal of 5.
and handset 2 are restored to the connected state, and step S
Return to routine processing from step 2.

Note that in this routine, step S2 and step S3,
Since the processes of step S6 and step S7 are well known, detailed explanation thereof will be omitted.

Next, the basic operation of the communication control circuit 33 is as shown in the flowchart of the communication control circuit 33 of the communication status display device for a mobile phone according to an embodiment of the present invention shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.

First, initialization is performed in step S21, the reception level sent from the line connection control circuit 13 is taken in in step S22, and the reception level taken in last time is compared with the reception level taken in this time in step 823. Then, subtract the currently captured reception level from the reception level and calculate the difference. In step S24, it is determined whether the difference between the successive reception levels is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold set as the limit of use of the facsimile device 60. Then, when the reception level difference is less than the usage limit threshold of the facsimile device 60,
In step S25, it is determined that the facsimile device 60 can be used under favorable conditions, and the usable display 39a is turned on, and when the reception level difference is equal to or greater than the usable limit threshold of the facsimile device 60, in step S26, the use of the facsimile device 60 is determined to be undesirable. The unusable display 39b is turned on. Then, in step S27, it is determined whether the communication switch 38 is on, and the routine processing from step S22 to step S27 is continued until it is determined that the communication switch 38 is on, and it is determined whether or not the facsimile device 60 can be used. Display.

When it is determined in step 827 that the communication switch 38 is on, it is determined in step S28 whether there is a document on the document table, and if there is no document, it is assumed that the reception mode is selected, and a line request is made to the NCUIO in step S29. A signal is output, a facsimile reception routine is executed in steps S30 and S31, and the audio signal line 17 is output.
The end signal is determined at R, and the routine processing of steps S30 and S31 is continued until the end signal is determined at the audio signal line 17R. Note that the facsimile reception routine is a known reception operation, so
I will omit that explanation.

When it is determined in step S31 that there is an end signal on the audio signal line 17R, the line request signal to the line connection control circuit 13 of the NCUIO is canceled in step 836, and the routine processing from step S22 is repeated.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S27 that the communication switch 38 is on, and it is determined in step S28 that there is a document on the document table, it is assumed that the transmission mode is selected, and a line request signal is output to NCUlo in step S32. A facsimile transmission routine is executed in steps 533 and S34, and the processing of the routine in steps 833 and S34 is continued until there are no more originals on the original table. When it is determined in step S34 that there is no original on the document table, an end signal is sent on the audio signal line 178 in step S35, and in step 836 the NCU
The line request signal to IO is canceled and the routine processing from step S22 is repeated. Note that since the facsimile transmission routine is a known transmission operation, a description thereof will be omitted.

As described above, the communication status display device of the mobile phone according to the embodiment of the present invention monitors the reception level of the radio wave reception state using the downlink serial signal from the mobile phone 1, and checks the reception level at predetermined intervals. The signal monitoring storage means through the routine processing of steps S5 and S6 performed by the line connection control circuit 13 for storing the signal and the difference between the successive reception levels or less than a predetermined threshold set as the usage limit of the facsimile machine 60. Communication controller 30 that determines whether there is
The communication control circuit 33 includes a calculation means that performs the routine processing from step S22 to step S26, and display means that includes a usable display 39a and an unusable display 39b that display the determination results of the calculation means. It is.

Therefore, the signal monitoring and storage means always monitors the reception level of the radio wave reception state by the downlink serial signal from the mobile phone mobile device 1, and stores the reception level at every predetermined time, so that the signal monitoring and storage means can detect irregular occurrences A reception level for determining the radio wave condition is stored in a memory and transmitted to the communication control circuit 33 of the line controller 30 at a predetermined timing.

Then, the reception level for determining the state of the radio waves received from the line connection control circuit 13 at a predetermined timing is determined by calculating the difference between the two successive reception levels by the calculation means of the communication control circuit 33. It is determined whether the level difference is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold set as the usage limit of the facsimile device 60, and the received level difference is
When the value exceeds a predetermined threshold value set as the usage limit of the facsimile device 60, it is determined that the image quality cannot be guaranteed even if the facsimile device 60 is used, and the unusable display 39b, which is a display means, can be turned on.

As a result, even if it becomes necessary to use the facsimile machine 60 while the car is driving in an area where the relay station needs to be changed, the timing of switching the relay station can be confirmed by the unusable display 39b. Even if the image is being transmitted by transmission, if the unusable display 39b lights up during the transmission, it can be determined that the image quality on the receiving side is not good and the image can be retransmitted. In addition, if the unusable display 39b lights up during image reception,
Without checking the received original, the user can determine that the quality of the received image is not good and request retransmission.

Furthermore, in particular, according to experiments conducted by the inventors of the present invention, it has been confirmed that even if the reception level continuously decreases, facsimile signals can be sent and received normally, and that when the reception level suddenly changes, the image quality suddenly changes. Ta. Therefore, when the communication status display lamp is turned on, it is confirmed that the image quality changes, and the reliability of displaying the communication status can be improved.

By the way, the signal monitoring and storage means for monitoring the reception level of the radio wave reception state based on the downlink serial signal from the mobile telephone device of the above embodiment and storing the reception level at predetermined intervals is the signal monitoring and storage means that monitors the reception level of the radio wave reception state by the downlink serial signal from the mobile phone device 1 and stores the reception level at predetermined intervals. This means is based on the routine processing of step S5 and step S6 performed by the line connection control circuit 13 which monitors the reception level of the radio wave reception state using a down serial signal and stores the reception level at predetermined time intervals. However, when carrying out the present invention, the mobile phone 1 is not limited to use in a car, but can be used as a mobile phone such as a mobile phone. Also,
The communication device connected to the mobile phone is not limited to a facsimile device, but can also be used as a general communication device for transmitting and receiving data such as personal computer communication.

In addition, the calculation means for determining whether the difference between a plurality of successive reception levels in the above embodiment is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value set as a usage limit is a Communication control circuit 3 of communication controller 30 that determines whether the limit is below a predetermined threshold value.
This means is performed by the routine processing from step S22 to step 826 performed by No. 3. However, when implementing the present invention, the reception level difference threshold can be a predetermined threshold depending on the type of data communication device used. Further, in this case, two reception levels are compared, but it is also possible to add a requirement to judge a plurality of reception levels and estimate the future communication state.

The display means for displaying the determination result of the arithmetic means of the above embodiment includes a usable display 39a and an unusable display 39b. However, when implementing the present invention, only one of the usable display 39a and the unusable display 39b can be used. It is also possible to juxtapose an audible display means with a visual display means. Alternatively, it may be an audible display means.

Further, the signal monitoring storage means and calculation means of the embodiment described in -1- are the signal monitoring storage means performed by the line connection control circuit 13 on the NCUIO side and the calculation performed by the communication control circuit 33 of the communication controller 30 constituting the facsimile machine 60. However, when carrying out the present invention, the reception level data is monitored by the downlink serial signal from the mobile phone, the reception level is stored at predetermined intervals, and the successive reception data is monitored. The means for determining whether the difference in level is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold set as a usage limit may be configured with a single circuit such as a microcomputer. Furthermore, the storage interval can be arbitrarily set depending on the type of mobile phone and the environment in which it is used.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, the communication status display device for a mobile phone according to the present invention monitors the reception level of the radio wave reception status using the downlink serial signal from the mobile phone using the signal monitoring storage means, and A device that stores the reception level every time, uses a calculation means to determine whether the reception level difference between successive reception levels is equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold set as a usage limit, and displays the determination result of the calculation means on a display means. It is.

Therefore, if the received signal level suddenly changes during data transmission/reception, data transmission errors such as image quality may occur.
By displaying this fact, it is possible to easily confirm the possibility of a change in image quality and to improve the reliability of the communication state.

Therefore, especially when moving between relay stations where there is a high possibility of data transmission/reception abnormalities occurring, the display allows you to check whether data transmission/reception is possible or not. If there is an indication that the communication status is poor,
It is possible to determine that the image quality on the receiving side is not good and retransmit the image. Furthermore, if this message is displayed during image reception, the user can determine that the quality of the received image is not good and request retransmission without checking the received document.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a communication status display device for a mobile telephone according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view of a main part of a display panel of a communication status display device for a mobile telephone according to an embodiment of the present invention. 3 is a flowchart of a line connection control circuit of a communication status display device of a mobile telephone according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 4 and 5 are a flowchart of the communication status of a mobile telephone according to an embodiment of the present invention. 3 is a flowchart of a communication control circuit of a display device. In the figure, 1: Mobile phone mobile device 2: Handset 10: Line control unit (NCU) 13 Two-line connection control circuit 18R: Downlink serial signal 18S: Uplink serial signal 30: Communication controller 33: Communication control circuit 60: Facsimile device It is. In the drawings, the same reference numerals and the same symbols indicate the same or equivalent parts.

Claims (1)

[Claims] The signal monitoring and storage means monitors the reception level of the radio wave reception state based on the downlink serial signal from the mobile phone and stores the reception level at predetermined time intervals, and the difference between successive reception levels is set as the usage limit. 1. A communication status display device for a mobile phone, comprising a calculation means for determining whether the value is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold, and a display means for displaying the determination result of the calculation means.