JPH09130284A - Battery-driven type communication equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the bewilderment and the unpleasant feeling of an opposite user by making the user of a communication opposite equipment able to recognize that effect when the decrease of a battery residual amount occurs. SOLUTION: The value of a battery voltage V01 is monitored by being compared with threshold values TH1 and TH2 during communication, and at the point of time when the digital value DS of the battery voltage V0 is turned to be TH1<DS<TH2, a communicating party is informed of low voltage message information by superimposing it to transmission voice signals and transmitting it, power supply to a display part 32 is turned off and remaining using time is prolonged. At the point of time when the digital value DS of the battery voltage V0 is turned to be TH1>DS, the power supply to a signal transmission and reception part 10 is turned off after performing an on-hook processing.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

The present invention relates to at least a communication operation using a battery as a power source, such as a portable telephone, a portable personal computer having a communication function, and a portable video recording / reproducing device having a television telephone function. The present invention relates to a battery-powered communication device that performs

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a portable electronic device which operates by using a battery as a power source has a battery residual amount decrease detection / display function. This function detects the remaining capacity of the battery, for example, by monitoring the battery voltage while using the device, compares the remaining capacity of the battery with a preset threshold value, and If the battery level is lower than that, a mark indicating the remaining battery level is displayed on the display of the device, or a sound is generated from a sounder,
This informs the user of the decrease in the remaining battery level.

[0003]

However, the conventional battery remaining amount decrease detection / display function as described above only informs the user of the device of the decrease in the battery remaining amount. Had some problems.

That is, recently, portable devices having a communication function such as a mobile phone and a personal computer have begun to spread, and further, a new type of mobile device such as a video recording / reproducing device with a television phone function. Type electronic devices are about to be developed. However, if these devices are provided with the conventional low battery remaining amount detection / display function as they are, the user of the device is surely notified of the low battery remaining amount by the low battery remaining amount display. However, the speaker of the communication partner cannot know the decrease in the remaining battery level of the communication partner device unless the speaker of the communication notifies the speaker of that fact. For this reason,
Even if the communication state changes or the communication is interrupted during the communication, the cause may be confused and unpleasant, which is extremely undesirable.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to allow the user of the communication partner device to know when the remaining battery level is low. Another object of the present invention is to provide a battery-powered communication device capable of reducing the confusion and discomfort of the other user.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is to detect the remaining capacity of the battery in a battery-driven communication device that performs at least a communication operation using a battery as a power source. A battery remaining amount detecting means and a battery state notifying means are provided, and when the remaining capacity detected by the battery remaining amount detecting means during communication operation is lower than a preset threshold value,
The message information indicating that the remaining battery level has decreased is notified to the communication partner by the battery status notification means.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the user is
Even if the speaker at the other end of the communication does not tell the battery level is low, such as by verbal communication, the low battery level message that is automatically notified by the other side can be used to ensure that the remaining battery level of the other device is known. Is possible.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the remaining capacity of the battery drops below a preset threshold value during communication operation and accordingly the operation related to communication is stopped, the communication Prior to the stop of the related operation, the operation stop notification means notifies the communication partner of the message information indicating that the operation related to the communication is stopped.

[0009] With this configuration, the user can communicate with the communication partner device by means of the low battery charge message notified from the communication partner device before the communication partner device stops the operation related to the communication due to the decrease of the battery remaining amount. It is possible to know that the battery level is low. Therefore, even if the communication-related device stops the operation related to the communication during the communication, the cause thereof can be grasped in advance, thereby reducing the trouble of feeling confused or uncomfortable.

Further, in the invention according to claim 3, the remaining capacity of the battery becomes lower than a preset threshold value during the communication operation, and accordingly, some of the plurality of operations except the communication operation are performed. When stopping by the operation stop control means, prior to the stop of the partial operation, the operation stop notification means notifies the communication partner of the message information to the effect that the partial operation is stopped.

In this way, the user can clearly know in advance a partial operation stop due to a decrease in the remaining battery level of the communication partner device, and also by a message directly indicating the partial operation stop. As a result, even if the communication partner device partially stops its operation, it is less confusing or uncomfortable.

Further, in the invention according to claim 4, while transmitting / receiving the voice data to / from the communication partner, the video data picked up by the image pickup means is transmitted to the communication partner and sent from the communication partner. In an apparatus for receiving video data and displaying it on a display means, when the remaining capacity of a battery falls below a preset threshold value, the display operation of the received video data on the display means is stopped. In addition, prior to the stop of the display operation, the message information to that effect is notified to the communication partner.

In this way, the user can clearly know in advance that the image transmitted from his device will not be displayed on the communication partner device. Therefore, for example, it becomes possible to take an appropriate response such as verbally transmitting information such as maps and photographs that have been image-transmitted until then.

Further, in the invention according to claim 5, when the remaining capacity of the battery falls below a preset threshold value, instead of stopping the display operation, the image pickup operation in the image pickup means is stopped, and Prior to the stop of the image pickup operation, message information to that effect is notified to the communication partner.

In this way, the user can clearly know the reason in advance even if the image coming from the communication partner device is interrupted during communication, thereby making it confusing. You can continue voice communication without having to remember.

Further, in the invention according to claim 6, when the remaining capacity of the battery falls below a preset threshold value, the display operation of the received video data in the display means and the image pickup operation in the image pickup means are performed simultaneously or in stages. In addition, prior to the stop of each of the display operation and the imaging operation, message information to that effect is notified to the communication partner.

In this way, the user can prevent the image transmitted from his device from being displayed on the communication partner device, and that the image coming from the communication partner device will be disconnected during communication. It is possible to clearly know in advance, which allows communication by voice to be continued without feeling confused.

Further, in the invention according to claim 7, after the display operation of the received video data is stopped, the video data sent from the communication partner is stored in the memory instead of the display operation. By doing so, it becomes possible to reproduce the video data stored in the memory after the end of communication and check the content, and it is possible to prevent loss of information.

Further, the invention according to claim 8 is such that, after the image pickup operation is stopped, the video data stored in advance in the memory is read and transmitted to the communication partner. By doing so, for example, the image of the speaker stored before the image capturing is stopped can be continuously sent to the user of the communication partner device as still image data, which prevents the problem that the image data is completely disconnected. It

Further, the invention according to claim 9 is a means for notifying the message information for stopping the operation, wherein the voice message information is inserted or superposed on the voice data and transmitted to the transmission partner. This way,
It is possible to auditorily notify the communication partner that the operation will be stopped. Therefore, even when the other user is not watching the received video, it is possible to reliably notify the other user that the operation is stopped.

Further, the invention according to claim 10 is a means for notifying the message information indicating that the operation is stopped, wherein the video message information is inserted or superposed on the video data and transmitted to the other party. By doing so, it is possible to visually notify the communication partner that the operation will be stopped. This is particularly effective because it is not necessary to disturb the call when an important call is made.

Further, in the invention according to claim 11, as a means for notifying the message information to the effect that the operation is stopped, a specific control code set in advance corresponding to the message information to the effect that the operation is stopped is transmitted to the communication partner. The message information corresponding to the control code is generated and output by the communication partner.

In this way, compared with the case where the voice message or the video message is transmitted as it is, the fact that the operation is stopped is efficiently notified in a short time without hindering the original transmission of the voice data or the video data. It becomes possible.

[0024]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram showing the configuration of a digital portable telephone which is a first embodiment of a battery-powered communication device according to the present invention.

In the figure, a wireless carrier signal sent from a base station (not shown) via a wireless channel is received by an antenna 11 and then input to a receiving circuit (RX) 13 via an antenna duplexer (DUP) 12. Then, the received local oscillation signal output from 14 is mixed and frequency-converted into a received intermediate frequency signal. Then, the received intermediate frequency signal is A / D converter 1 including a low pass filter.
After being sampled in 6, the digital demodulation circuit (DEM) 17 is input.

The digital demodulation circuit 17 performs digital demodulation processing after frame synchronization and bit synchronization have been established for the digital received intermediate frequency signal. The baseband digital demodulated signal obtained by this demodulation processing is a time division multiple access circuit (TDMA).
The time slot destined for itself is separated and extracted for each transmission frame. The information about the frame synchronization and the bit synchronization obtained by the digital demodulation circuit 17 is input to the control circuit (CONT) 30.

The digital demodulated signal output from the TDMA circuit 18 is subsequently subjected to an error correction code decoding circuit (CH
-COD) 19 for error correction decoding processing. Then, this error-correction-decoded digital demodulated signal is input to a voice code decoding circuit (SP-COD) 20 and subjected to voice decoding processing, whereby a digital received signal is reproduced. This digital received signal is D / A
After being converted into an analog reception signal by the converter 21, it is supplied to a speaker 22 via an audio amplifier (not shown), and the speaker 22 outputs a loud sound.

On the other hand, the voice transmitted by the speaker is the microphone 2
The sound is collected by 3 and converted into a transmission signal, further amplified by a transmission amplifier (not shown) to a predetermined level, and then A
It is input to the / D converter 24. Then, the A / D converter 24 samples the signal at a predetermined sampling period, thereby converting it into a digital transmission signal composed of a sample pulse train. After the acoustic echo is canceled by an echo canceller (not shown), the digital transmission signal is input to the voice code decoding circuit (SP-COD) 20 and is voice coded here.

The voice-encoded digital transmission signal is input to the error correction code decoding circuit (CH-COD) 19 together with the control signal output from the control circuit 30, and is error correction coded there. Then, this error correction coded digital transmission signal is input to the TDMA circuit 18. In this TDMA circuit 18, a transmission frame corresponding to the time division multiple access (TDMA) system is generated,
A process for inserting the digital transmission signal into the time slot assigned to the own device in this transmission frame is performed. The digital transmission signal output from the TDMA circuit 18 is subsequently transmitted to the digital modulation circuit (MO
D) is input to 25.

In the digital modulation circuit 25, a transmission intermediate frequency signal digitally modulated by the digital transmission signal is generated, the transmission intermediate frequency signal is converted into an analog signal by the D / A converter 26, and then the transmission circuit ( TX) 15. As a digital modulation method, for example, π / 4 shift DQPSK (π / 4 shif
ted, differentially encoded quadrature phase shif
t keying) method is used.

In the transmission circuit 15, the modulated transmission intermediate frequency signal is mixed with the transmission local oscillation signal output from the frequency synthesizer 14, and is thereby converted into a radio carrier frequency corresponding to a radio communication channel. Then, this radio carrier signal is controlled to a predetermined transmission power level by a transmission power amplifier (not shown), and then transmitted from the antenna 11 to the base station (not shown) via the antenna duplexer 12.

Further, this mobile telephone has a key input section (KE
Y) 31 and a display unit (DISP) 32,
The key input unit 31 and the display unit 32 are arranged on the operation panel. Of these, the display unit 32 includes, for example, a liquid crystal display device with a backlight.

Further, the power supply circuit of this mobile phone is constructed as follows. That is, reference numeral 33 in the drawing denotes a battery 33 using a secondary battery such as a lithium ion battery, and the output voltage (battery voltage) V0 of this battery 33 is input to the voltage generation circuit 34. In this voltage generation circuit 34, a stable operating voltage Vcc required by each circuit section of the telephone is generated based on the battery voltage V0. This operating voltage Vcc starts the signal transmitting / receiving section 10, the control circuit 30 and the display section. 32. Switches 35 and 36 are inserted in the power supply path to the signal transmitting / receiving unit 10 and the display unit 32. These switches 35 and 36 are opened and closed by switch control signals S1 and S2 output from the control circuit 30 to control the supply of the operating voltage Vcc to the signal transmitting / receiving unit 10 and the display unit 32.

Further, the battery voltage V of the battery 33
0 is input to the voltage detection circuit (V-DET) 37. The voltage detection circuit 37 detects the value of the battery voltage V0 and converts it into a digital value so that the control circuit 30 can process it. This digital value DS is taken into the control circuit 30.

By the way, the control circuit 30 is provided with, for example, a microcomputer as a main control unit, and has a battery monitoring / power supply control function in addition to various control functions relating to communication operation as its control function. . This function is performed by setting the digital value DS of the battery voltage V0 detected by the voltage detection circuit 37 to a preset threshold value T.
The size is determined by comparing with H1 and TH2, and the power supply to the display unit 32 and the signal transmission / reception unit 10 is controlled according to the determination result, and the battery 33 is used.
The notification message information M1 indicating that the remaining capacity has decreased is generated from the message generating unit 38, and the notification message information M1 is notified to the speaker of the mobile phone and the speaker of the communication partner.

Next, the battery monitoring / power supply control operation of the portable telephone configured as described above will be described according to the control procedure of the control circuit 30. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the control procedure and control contents.

During a period of communication with another portable telephone or wired telephone via the wireless channel, the control circuit 30 periodically determines the digital value DS of the battery voltage V0 detected by the voltage detecting circuit 37 in step 2a. Take in. Then, in steps 2b and 2c, the digital value D of this battery voltage V0
S is compared with thresholds TH1 and TH2. Now assume that the digital value DS of the battery voltage V0 is the threshold value TH1,
If it is higher than any of TH2, it is judged that the battery voltage V0 is normal, and the control is returned to other control necessary during the communication period such as call control.

Now, assume that the battery 33 is consumed in this state and the voltage value V0 thereof becomes TH1 <DS <TH2. Then, the control circuit 30 proceeds to step 2d, where the message generator 38 outputs the low voltage message information M indicating that the battery voltage has dropped.
1 is generated. Then this message information M1
Is superposed on the transmission signal in the voice coding / decoding circuit 20 and transmitted to the other party of the call, and is also superposed on the reception voice signal and outputted from the speaker 22. In addition,
As the above-mentioned low voltage message, for example, "the remaining battery level is low. It will soon be impossible to make a call."

When the transmission of the low voltage message and the output of the loud sound are completed, the control circuit 30 generates the switch control signal S1 to turn off the switch 36 in step 2e. As a result, the power supply to the display unit 32 is cut off, and as a result, the backlight of the display unit 32 is turned off. Therefore, the power consumption of the mobile phone is suppressed, which extends the remaining usage time of the mobile phone.

When the power supply to the display unit 32 is cut off, the control circuit 30 returns to step 2a and returns to steps 2b and 2c.
The determination of the digital value DS of the battery voltage V0 is continued. When the battery voltage V0 further decreases and becomes TH1> DS, it is determined that it is difficult to continue communication any more, and the process proceeds to step 2f, where the wireless channel is disconnected and the standby state is restored. To control the end of the call. Then, in step 2g, the switch control signal S2 is output to turn off the switch 35, thereby cutting off the power supply to the signal transmitting / receiving unit 10.

As described above, in the mobile phone of this embodiment, the value of the battery voltage V0 is set to the threshold value TH during communication.
1, TH2 is monitored and compared, and when the digital value DS of the battery voltage V0 becomes TH1 <DS <TH2, the low-voltage message information is superimposed on the transmitted voice signal and transmitted to the communication partner. Along with notifying
The power supply to the display unit 32 is cut off to extend the remaining usage time, and the digital value DS of the battery voltage V0 is T.
When H1> DS, the end of call processing is performed and then the power supply to the signal transmitting / receiving unit 10 is cut off.

Therefore, according to this embodiment, not only the message to the user of this mobile phone, but also the speaker of the other party of the call is informed that the battery voltage is low and the battery cannot be used soon. Will be notified,
As a result, the other speaker can clearly know the state of the mobile phone, which is the other party of the call, before the communication is interrupted. Therefore, even if the communication is interrupted, the cause of the communication is not known and the user will not feel confused or uncomfortable.

At this time, the battery voltage V0 is lowered below the threshold value TH2 set higher than the threshold value TH1 without waiting until the battery voltage V0 drops to the threshold value TH1 which is the minimum operation guaranteed voltage value of the portable telephone. Since the low voltage message is notified when the voltage drops, it is possible to reliably perform the notification operation of the low voltage message.

Further, since the power supply to the display unit 32 is cut off together with the notification of the low voltage message, the power consumption by the backlight of the display unit 32 is eliminated thereafter, and the remaining battery life is extended accordingly. This increases the remaining usage time and increases the probability that a call can be completed.

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 3 is a circuit block diagram showing a configuration of a video recording / reproducing apparatus with a television telephone function, which is a second embodiment of the battery-powered communication apparatus according to the present invention. is there.

In the figure, a video signal and an audio signal coming from a communication partner device via a subscriber line 40 of a public network during a videophone are input to a reception signal processing unit 42 via a line connection control unit 41. To be done. Received signal processing unit 41
In the above, demodulation and decoding processing of the above-mentioned video signal and audio signal is performed, whereby the baseband received video signal and received voice signal are reproduced. Then, the received voice signal of the reproduced baseband signal is supplied to the speaker 44 via the changeover switch 43, and is output from the speaker 44 in a loud voice. On the other hand, the received video signal is supplied to the display unit (DISP) 47 via the adder 45 and the changeover switch 46, respectively, and is displayed on the display unit 47. The display unit 47 is composed of a liquid crystal display with a backlight and a drive circuit thereof.

On the other hand, the transmission video signal output from the image pickup section 50 and the microphone 4 during the videophone call.
The transmitted voice signal output from 8 is transmitted by the transmission signal processing unit 49.
Respectively. In the transmission signal processing unit 49, the transmission video signal and the transmission voice signal are subjected to predetermined encoding processing and modulation necessary for transmission to the subscriber line, and the transmission video / audio signal generated thereby is generated. It is transmitted to the subscriber line 40 via the line connection control unit 41.

On the other hand, during video recording, the video signal output from the image pickup section 50 and the audio signal output from the microphone 48 are input to the recording / reproducing section 51, respectively. The recording / reproducing unit 51 uses, for example, a semiconductor memory, a magneto-optical disk, or a DVD (Digital video disk) as a recording medium, and stores the video signal and the audio signal, respectively.

During video reproduction, the video signal read from the recording / reproducing section 51 is supplied to the display section 47 via the changeover switch 46 and displayed on the display section 47. Further, the audio signal read out from the recording / reproducing unit 51 together with the video signal is supplied to the speaker 44 via the changeover switch 43, and outputted from the speaker 44 in a loud voice.

By the way, the power supply circuit section of the video recording / reproducing apparatus is constructed as follows. That is, reference numeral 52 in the drawing denotes a battery using a secondary battery such as a lithium-ion battery, and the output voltage (battery voltage) V0 of the battery 52.
Is input to the voltage generation circuit 53. This voltage generation circuit 5
3 generates a stable operating voltage Vcc required by each circuit section of the device based on the battery voltage V0, and this operating voltage Vcc is supplied to the power supply control section 54. The power supply control unit 54 has three built-in switches that are turned on / off according to a determination signal S3 supplied from a remaining amount determination unit 55, which divides the operating voltage Vcc into three systems and then through the switches. Output. As for the output destination, Vc2 is the image pickup unit 5
0, Vc3 is set in the display section 47, and Vc1 is set in the other circuit sections.

Further, the battery voltage V of the battery 52
0 is input to the remaining amount determination unit 55. This remaining amount determination unit 55
Determines the magnitude of the voltage value by comparing the value of the battery voltage V0 with two preset threshold values TH1 and TH2, and outputs a determination signal S3 indicating the determination result to the power supply control unit 54. And the message generator 56.

The message generator 56 sends message information for notifying the other party of the call to stop the image pickup operation when the battery voltage drops, according to the determination signal S3 supplied from the remaining amount determiner 55. It is generated and supplied to the transmission signal processing unit 49. At the same time, message information for notifying the user of the apparatus that the imaging operation is stopped is generated and supplied to the adder 45. Adder 45
Superimposes this message information on the received video signal output from the received signal processing unit 42 and supplies it to the display unit 47 for display.

Next, a battery monitoring / power supply control operation in the apparatus configured as described above will be described. Subscriber line 4
During the period in which the videophone communication is performed with the videophone device of the communication partner (not shown) via 0, the video signal obtained by the image pickup unit 50 and the speech input to the microphone 48 are transmitted. The voice signal is subjected to signal processing necessary for telephone communication such as encoding and modulation in the transmission signal processing unit 49, and then transmitted to the subscriber line 40 via the line connection control unit 41.

On the other hand, the video signal and the audio signal coming from the television telephone device of the communication partner via the subscriber line 40 are input to the reception signal processing unit 42 via the line connection control unit 41, where Demodulation and decoding are performed to reproduce the baseband video signal and audio signal. Then, of these, the video signal is input to the display unit 47 via the adder 45 and the changeover switch 46, and is displayed on the display unit 47. Further, the audio signal is supplied to the speaker 44 via the changeover switch 43, and the speaker 4
A loud voice is output from 4.

In this state, the power supply circuit section monitors the remaining battery power and controls power supply. That is, the output voltage V0 of the battery 52 is input to the remaining amount determination section 55, and two threshold values TH1 and TH set in advance here are set.
2 are compared respectively. If the battery voltage V0 is higher than each of the threshold values TH1 and TH2,
Since the battery voltage V0 is normal, the determination signal S3 is not output. Therefore, the power supply control unit 54 continues to supply power to each circuit unit. No message is generated from the message generator 56.

At this time, the message generation unit 56 generates a message indicating that the battery 52 has a sufficient remaining amount or a message indicating the remaining amount, and this message is displayed on the display unit 47. Good.

Now, it is assumed that the battery 52 is exhausted and the battery voltage V0 drops to TH1 <V0 <TH2. Then, the remaining amount determination unit 55 generates the determination signal S3 indicating the determination result. Therefore, the message generator 56 generates a low battery message such as "The battery is low, the video transmission will stop shortly.", And this message is sent to the transmission signal processor. 49. For this reason, the transmission signal processing unit 49 superimposes or inserts the remaining amount reduction message on the transmission video signal, and transmits it to the video telephone device of the communication partner. Therefore, the speaker of the communication partner can know the state of the communication partner device by seeing the above-described low remaining amount message displayed on the display unit of the device.

Note that the remaining amount decrease message is used as a voice synthesis message, and this message is transmitted by the transmission signal processing unit 49.
May be inserted into or superposed on the transmitted voice signal and transmitted to the communication partner. In this way, the speaker at the other end of the communication can use the voice synthesis message output from the receiver
The state of the communication partner device can be known.

Further, the message generating unit 56 also generates a message for the speaker of the own device. This message is displayed on the display unit 47 after being combined with the received video data by the adder 45. Therefore, the speaker is
By visually recognizing the above message displayed on the display 7, it is possible to know the state of the own device.

On the other hand, the determination signal S from the remaining amount determination unit 55
When 3 is generated, the power supply control unit 54 stops the power supply of the operating voltage Vc2 to the imaging unit 50 after the time (for example, several seconds to ten seconds) required to notify the remaining amount decrease message has elapsed.

In this way, after the notification of the low remaining amount message and the power supply to the image pickup unit 50 are stopped, the battery 52 is discharged.
When the voltage value V0 of V0 is further reduced to V0 <TH1, the remaining amount determination section 55 outputs the determination signal S3 indicating the determination result. Therefore, the power feeding control unit 54 stops feeding the operating voltages Vc1 and Vc3 to the other circuit units except the image pickup unit 50 which has already stopped feeding.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the battery 5 is used in the remaining amount determining section 55 during the videophone call.
The remaining capacity of 2 is determined, and the battery voltage V0 is the threshold value T
At the time when it becomes lower than H2, the message generation unit 56 generates a remaining amount decrease message and superimposes or inserts this message on the transmission video signal or the transmission voice signal and transmits it to the communication partner. The speaker can know the state of the communication partner device by the remaining amount decrease message. For this reason, even if the received image is interrupted after that, the cause is not known and the user does not feel confused or uncomfortable.

Since the power supply to the image pickup unit 50 is cut off after the notification of the low remaining amount message, the power consumption of the image pickup unit 50 can be eliminated and the power consumption of the apparatus can be reduced. This causes the battery 52 to reach the threshold value T
It is possible to extend the battery life of the period until it becomes lower than H1 and becomes unusable, and thus it is possible to extend the remaining usage time and increase the probability that the call can be completed.

(Third Embodiment) FIG. 4 is a circuit block diagram showing the configuration of a video recording / reproducing apparatus with a television telephone function, which is a third embodiment of the battery-powered communication apparatus according to the present invention. is there.

In the figure, a video signal and an audio signal coming from a communication partner device via a subscriber line 60 of a public network during a videophone are received signal processing via a line connection control unit 62 of a transmission / reception unit 61. It is input to the unit 63. The reception signal processing unit 63 performs demodulation and decoding processing on the video signal and the audio signal, and further converts them into a digital signal. Then, the digital received voice signal and the digital video signal are input to the control unit 70, respectively.

In the control section 70, the digital received voice signal and the digital received video signal are processed for voice output and video display such as signal selection and insertion. The digital received voice signal after this processing is converted into an analog signal by the D / A converter 72 of the handset unit 71, and then outputted as loudspeaker from the speaker 73. The digital received video signal is displayed on the display unit (DISP) 8
2 is supplied to display the image. The display unit 82 is composed of a liquid crystal display device with a backlight and a drive circuit thereof. Also,
The digital received voice signal and the digital received video signal are supplied to the recording / reproducing unit 83, and the recording / reproducing unit 8
3 is stored. The recording / reproducing unit 83 may be a recording medium such as a semiconductor memory, a magneto-optical disk, a DVD (Digital vi
deo disk) is used.

On the other hand, the transmission video signal output from the image pickup section 80 and the transmission voice signal output from the microphone 74 are converted into digital signals by the A / D converters 81 and 75, respectively, and then the control section 70. Entered in. The control unit 70 performs processing for transmission or recording such as signal selection and insertion on the digital transmission video signal and the digital transmission voice signal. Then, the digital transmission video signal and the digital transmission voice signal after this processing are transmitted by the transmission signal processing unit 64 of the transmission / reception unit 61.
To the subscriber line 60 via the line connection control unit 63 after being subjected to signal processing for transmission such as encoding and modulation. Further, the digital transmission video signal and the digital transmission voice signal after the above processing are
It is supplied from the control unit 70 to the recording / reproducing unit 83 and stored therein.

Output voltage of battery 90 (battery voltage)
V0 is input to the voltage generation circuit 91. The voltage generating circuit 91 generates a stable operating voltage Vcc required by each circuit section of the device based on the battery voltage V0.
This operating voltage Vcc is supplied to the power feeding control unit 92. The power feeding control unit 92 has four built-in switches that are turned on / off in response to a power feeding control signal S4 generated from the control unit 70, which will be described later, and divides the operating voltage Vcc into four systems and then through the switches. Supply to each circuit section. Supply destination is V
c1 is set in the transmission / reception section 61, Vc2 is set in the recording / playback section 83, Vc3 is set in the image pickup section 80, and Vc4 is set in the display section 82.

The battery voltage V of the battery 90 is also
0 is input to the voltage detection circuit (V-DET) 93. The voltage detection circuit 93 detects the value of the battery voltage V0 and converts it into a digital value so that the control unit 70 can process it. The digital value DS is fetched by the control unit 70.

By the way, the control unit 70 is provided with, for example, a microcomputer as a main control unit. As its control function, in addition to various control functions relating to communication operation and various control functions relating to recording / reproducing operation, battery monitoring / power supply is performed. It has a new control function.

This battery monitoring / power supply control function has thresholds TH1 and TH which are preset digital values DS of the battery voltage V0 detected by the voltage detection circuit 93.
2, the size is judged by comparing with TH3. Then, notification message information indicating that the remaining capacity of the battery 33 has decreased is generated according to the determination result, and the notification message information is notified to the speaker of this device and the speaker of the communication partner.

By instructing the power supply control section 92, the power supply to the display section 82, the image pickup section 80, the transmission / reception section 61 and the recording / reproducing section 83 is controlled to be turned on / off.
Further, after the display operation is stopped and the image pickup operation is stopped, the received video signal that cannot be displayed on the recording / reproducing unit 83 is stored, and the alternative video information stored in advance is read from the recording / reproducing unit 83 to obtain the alternative video. Information is transmitted to the communication partner instead of the transmitted video signal.

Next, the battery monitoring / power supply control operation of the video recording / reproducing apparatus with the videophone function configured as described above will be described according to the control procedure of the control unit 70.
During the videophone call, the control unit 70 periodically takes in the digital value DS of the battery voltage V0 detected by the voltage detection circuit 93 in step 5a as shown in FIG. Then, in steps 5b, 5c and 5d, the digital value DS of the battery voltage V0 is set to the threshold value TH.
1, TH2, TH3.

Now, the digital value DS of the battery voltage V0
However, if it is higher than any of the threshold values TH1, TH2, TH3, the control unit 70 determines that the battery voltage V0 is normal, and other control necessary during the communication period such as call control is performed. Return.

In this state, it is assumed that the remaining capacity of the battery 90 becomes small and the output voltage value V0 becomes lower than the threshold value TH3 as shown in FIG. 6 and TH2 <DS <TH3.

Then, as shown in FIG. 7, the control section 70 first gives an instruction to the power supply control section 92 to supply the operating voltage Vc2 to the recording / reproducing section 83 in step 7a, thereby starting the recording / reproducing section 83. Next, in step 7b, a display-off message that tells that the display operation of the received image is to be stopped is created, and this display-off message is inserted into the transmission voice signal in step 7c and transmitted from the transmission signal processing unit 64 to the communication partner. Let As the display-off message, for example, "because the remaining capacity of the battery has decreased, it is no longer possible to display the received image."

Therefore, the display off message is output from the handset of the communication partner in a state where it is inserted in the received voice, and the partner speaker displays the image transmitted by himself in the device of the communication partner for a while after this message. You can know that it will disappear.

At the same time, the control unit 70 inserts the display-off message into the received voice signal in step 7d and causes the speaker 73 to output the voice. Therefore, the speaker of this apparatus can also know from the display off message that the display of the received image will be stopped thereafter due to the exhaustion of the battery.

When the notification control of the display-off message is completed in this way, the control unit 70 gives an instruction to the power supply control unit 92 in step 7e to operate the operating voltage V for the display unit 82.
The power supply to c4 is cut off, and the process returns to the monitoring of the battery voltage V0 shown in FIG. Therefore, the display operation of the received video on the display unit 82 is not performed thereafter, but instead, the received video signal is guided from the control unit 70 to the recording / reproducing unit 83 and stored. Therefore, after the call is completed and the battery is replaced, the recording / reproducing unit 83 reproduces the received video, so that the speaker can fully check the received video sent from the communication partner.

Next, it is assumed that the voltage value V0 of the battery 90 further decreases and becomes TH1 <DS <TH2. Then, as shown in FIG. 8, the control unit 70 creates an imaging off message indicating that the imaging operation is to be stopped thereafter in step 8a, and inserts this imaging off message into the transmission voice signal in step 8b to process the transmission signal. The part 64 transmits it to the communication partner.

An example of the image-taking off message is, for example, "The remaining battery capacity has decreased.
After that, the video cannot be sent. Is used.

Therefore, the receiver of the communication partner outputs the image pickup off message together with the received voice, and the partner speaker knows in advance that the transmission of the video from the device of the communication partner will be stopped by this message. You can

At the same time, the control unit 70 inserts the image-taking off message into the received voice signal in step 8c and causes the speaker 73 to output the voice. Therefore, the speaker of this apparatus can also know from the image-off message that the video transmission will be stopped later due to the exhaustion of the battery.

When the notification control of the imaging off message is completed in this way, the control unit 70 causes the recording / reproducing unit 83 to reproduce the previously stored alternative video information in step 8d, and the alternative video information from the imaging unit 80 is reproduced. Instead of the video signal, it is transmitted to the device of the communication partner. Therefore, the alternative image is displayed on the display unit of the communication partner device, and the anxiety of the partner speaker is reduced. Note that, as the alternative video information, for example, a speaker video imaged at the start of this communication or during the communication, or a landscape or test image stored in advance is used. Further, at that time, the imaging off message may be fixedly inserted in these alternative videos.

Finally, the control unit 70 gives an instruction to the power supply control unit 92 in step 8e to cut off the supply of the operating voltage Vc3 to the image pickup unit 80, and returns to the monitoring of the battery voltage V0 shown in FIG. Therefore, the imaging operation by the imaging unit 80 is stopped thereafter.

Then, as shown in FIG. 6, the battery voltage V
When 0 further decreases and becomes TH1> DS, the control unit 70 determines that it is difficult to continue communication any more, and shifts from step 5d of FIG. 5 to step 9a shown in FIG. An end message is created, and this message is sent to the transmission signal processing unit 6 in step 9b.
The communication is transmitted from 4 to the communication partner, thereby notifying the partner speaker of the communication end. Along with that, step 9c
At the above, the communication end message is output from the speaker 73 in a loud voice, thereby notifying the speaker of the own device of the end of communication.

When it is confirmed in step 9d that the fixed time required to notify the communication end message has elapsed, the control section 70 shifts to step 9e and gives a disconnection instruction to the line connection control section 62. Subscriber line 60
Then, the power feeding control unit 92 is instructed in step f, and the transmitting / receiving unit 61 and the recording / reproducing unit 8 are instructed.
The supply of the operating voltages Vc1 and Vc2 to 3 is cut off.

As described above, in the video recording / reproducing apparatus with the videophone function of this embodiment, the value of the battery voltage V0 is set to the threshold values TH1 and TH during the videophone.
2, TH3 is monitored by comparison, and first, when the digital value DS of the battery voltage V0 becomes TH2 <DS <TH3, a display OFF message is generated to notify the communication partner, and then power is supplied to the display unit 82. I will refuse. Then, when the digital value DS of the battery voltage V0 further decreases and becomes TH1 <DS <TH2, an imaging off message is generated and the communication partner is notified, and then the power supply to the imaging unit 80 is cut off. Finally the battery voltage V
When the digital value DS of 0 further decreases and becomes TH1> DS, the communication end message is notified to the communication partner and the call termination processing is performed, and then the power supply to the transmission / reception unit 61 and the recording / reproducing unit 83 is cut off. I am trying.

Therefore, according to this apparatus, when the battery voltage V0 drops, the display unit 8 is operated in the process of the drop.
2. The power supply to the image capturing unit 80, the transmitting / receiving unit 61, and the recording / reproducing unit 83 is sequentially cut off, so that the remaining life of the battery can be extended, thereby extending the remaining usage time and increasing the probability that the call can be completed. be able to.

When the power supply is sequentially cut off, a display off message, an imaging off message, and a communication end message are created in advance and notified to the speaker of the other party of communication, so that the other party of the speaker receives these messages. By this notification, the change in the operating state of the partner device due to the consumption of the battery 90 can be accurately grasped in advance. Therefore, even if a change in the operating state occurs, the cause cannot be known and the user will not feel confused or uncomfortable.

Further, in this embodiment, after the operation of the display section 82 is stopped, the received video signal is stored in the recording / reproducing section 83 instead of the display operation. For this reason,
If necessary, the speaker of the own device can reproduce and watch the video signal received during the display operation stop period, and can check the video information sent from the other party without omission. it can. Further, after the operation of the image pickup unit 80 is stopped, the substitute image stored in advance is reproduced from the recording / reproducing unit 82 instead of the imaged image and transmitted to the communication partner. Therefore, the other speaker can see the alternative video even when the imaging operation of the other device is stopped, and there is no fear of misidentifying the device as a failure.

(Fourth Embodiment) In this embodiment,
When notifying the communication partner that the remaining capacity of the battery has decreased or some operations have stopped, the message transmission side transmits a specific control code predetermined between the communication devices, and the message reception side uses this control code. Is received and a message corresponding to this code is created and displayed on the display unit.

FIG. 10 is a circuit block diagram showing a main configuration of a video recording / reproducing apparatus with a television telephone function according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the same parts as those in FIG. 4 are designated by the same reference numerals and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

When the battery voltage V0 becomes lower than the threshold value, the device on the message transmitting side causes the control code generating means 70a to generate a predetermined control code in the control unit 70 in association with the message. The code is inserted or superposed on the transmission video signal or the transmission voice signal by the code insertion means 70b, and is transmitted from the transmission signal processing unit 64 to the subscriber line 40 via the line connection control unit 63.

On the other hand, in the device on the message receiving side, in the control section 70, the control code extracting means 70c extracts the control code from the received video signal or the received audio signal, and the message generating means 70d uses the control code to extract the control code. Generate the corresponding message. Then, this message is inserted as a telop into the received video signal by the message inserting means 70e and displayed on the display unit 82.

With such a configuration, the control code is transmitted instead of the message, so that the original transmission of voice data or video data is not hindered as compared with the case of transmitting a voice message or video message as it is. Moreover, it is possible to efficiently notify the fact that the operation is stopped in a short time.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, when transmitting the message to stop the operation, the remaining capacity or the remaining usage time of the battery at this time may be calculated and the calculated value may be transmitted together.

Further, in the third embodiment, the display section 82
The power supply to the image pickup unit 80 and the power supply to the image pickup unit 80 are separately provided for different threshold values TH3 and TH2.
The threshold values TH3 and TH2 may be associated and performed simultaneously. In this case, the content of the notification message may be appropriately set according to the target of power cut.

Furthermore, the message may be repeatedly transmitted not only once but also a plurality of times. Further, as long as communication is continued after the battery remaining amount has dropped below a predetermined value, the battery remaining amount may be lowered. You may make it notify momentarily and notify.

In addition, the type and configuration of the apparatus, the number of threshold levels for detecting the remaining battery level, the content of the notification message and its transmission method, and the relationship between the transmission timing of the communication message and the power-off timing. The functions and the like for which the power supply is cut off can be modified in various ways without departing from the scope of the present invention.

[0101]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention,
When the remaining capacity of the battery is detected during communication operation, and when the detected remaining capacity falls below a preset threshold value, message information indicating that the remaining battery capacity has dropped is notified to the communication partner. By doing so, when the remaining battery level is reduced, the user of the communication partner device can be informed of that fact, thereby making it possible to reduce the confusion and discomfort of the partner user. A drive type communication device can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram showing a configuration of a digital mobile phone which is a first embodiment of a battery-driven communication device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a battery monitoring power supply control operation in the mobile phone shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a circuit block diagram showing a configuration of a video recording / reproducing apparatus with a videophone function, which is a second embodiment of the battery-driven communication apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a circuit block diagram showing the configuration of a video recording / reproducing device with a videophone function, which is a third embodiment of the battery-driven communication device according to the present invention.

5 is a flowchart showing a main routine of a battery monitoring power supply control operation in the device shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a relationship between a decrease in battery voltage and a threshold value.

7 is a flowchart showing a display-off routine of a battery monitoring power supply control operation in the apparatus shown in FIG.

8 is a flowchart showing an imaging off routine of a battery monitoring power supply control operation in the apparatus shown in FIG.

9 is a flowchart showing a communication end routine of the battery monitoring power supply control operation in the apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a circuit block diagram showing a main configuration of a video recording / reproducing apparatus with a videophone function according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 ... Antenna 12 ... Antenna duplexer (DUP) 13 ... Reception circuit (RX) 14 ... Frequency synthesizer (SYN) 15 ... Transmission circuit (TX) 16, 24, 75, 81 ... A / D converter 17 ... Digital demodulation circuit (DEM) 18 ... Time division multiple access circuit (TDMA) 19 ... Error correction code decoding circuit (CH-COD) 20 ... Speech code decoding circuit (SP-COD) 21, 26, 72 ... D / A converter 22, 44 , 73 ... Speakers 23, 48, 74 ... Microphone 25 ... Digital modulation circuit (MOD) 30 ... Control circuit 31 ... Key input section (KEY) 32, 47, 82 ... Display section (DISP) 33, 52, 90 ... Battery 34 , 53, 91 ... Voltage generation circuit 35, 36 ... Switch 37, 93 ... Voltage detection circuit (V-DET) 38, 56 ... Message generation unit 40, 60 ... Public network subscriber lines 41, 62 ... Line connection control unit 42, 63 ... Received signal processing unit 43 ... Changeover switch 45 ... Adder 46 ... Changeover switch 49, 64 ... Transmission signal processing unit 50, 80 ... Imaging unit 51, 83 ... Recording / reproducing section 54, 92 ... Power feeding control section 55 ... Remaining amount determining section 61 ... Transmitting / receiving section 70 ... Control section 70a ... Control code generating means 70b ... Code inserting means 70c ... Control code extracting means 70d ... Message generating means 70e ... Message insertion means 71 ... Handset unit

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A battery-powered communication device that performs at least a communication operation using a battery as a power source, and a battery remaining amount detecting means for detecting the remaining capacity of the battery, and a battery remaining amount detecting means during the communication operation. A battery-powered communication device comprising: a battery status notifying means for notifying a communication partner of message information to that effect when the remaining capacity reduced falls below a preset threshold value. 2. A battery-powered communication device that performs at least a communication operation using a battery as a power source, and a battery remaining amount detecting means for detecting the remaining capacity of the battery, and a battery remaining amount detecting means during the communication operation. When the remaining capacity that has been stored falls below a preset threshold value, the operation stop control means for stopping the operation related to communication, and the communication operation prior to the stop of the operation related to communication by the operation stop control means. A battery-driven communication device, comprising: an operation stop notification means for notifying a communication partner of message information to the effect that the communication is to be stopped. 3. A battery-powered communication device that performs a plurality of operations including a communication operation using a battery as a power source, and a battery remaining amount detecting means for detecting the remaining capacity of the battery, and the remaining battery amount during the communication operation. When the remaining capacity detected by the detection means is lower than a preset threshold value, the operation stop control means for stopping a part of the plurality of operations except the communication operation, and the operation stop control means Prior to stopping some operations,
A battery-driven communication device, comprising: an operation stop notification means for notifying a communication partner of message information indicating that the partial operation is stopped. 4. While transmitting / receiving audio data to / from a communication partner, the video data captured by the imaging means is transmitted to the communication partner, and the video data sent from the communication partner is received to display means. The operation stop control means stops the display operation of the received video data on the display means when the remaining capacity of the battery falls below a preset threshold value, and 4. The battery-powered communication device according to claim 3, wherein the stop notification means notifies the communication partner of message information to that effect prior to the stop of the display operation. 5. While transmitting and receiving audio data to and from a communication partner, the video data imaged by the imaging means is transmitted to the communication partner, and the video data sent from the communication partner is received and displayed on the display means. The operation stop control means stops the image pickup operation in the image pickup means when the remaining capacity of the battery falls below a preset threshold value, and the operation stop notification means The battery-powered communication device according to claim 3, wherein the communication device notifies the communication partner of message information to that effect prior to the stop of the imaging operation. 6. The video data imaged by the imaging means is transmitted to the communication partner while transmitting / receiving the audio data to / from the communication partner, and the video data sent from the communication partner is received and displayed on the display means. In the case of performing the operation of displaying the received image data in the display means and the image pickup means in the case where the remaining capacity of the battery is lower than a preset threshold value. 4. The image-capturing operation is stopped simultaneously or in stages, and the operation-stop notification means notifies the communication partner of message information to that effect before stopping each of the display operation and the image-capturing operation. Battery-powered communication device. 7. The battery-powered communication device according to claim 4, wherein the operation stop control means stores the image data sent from the communication partner in the memory after the display operation is stopped. 8. The battery-driven type according to claim 5, wherein the operation stop control means reads out the video data stored in advance in the memory and transmits it to the communication partner after the image pickup operation is stopped. Communication device. 9. The operation stop notifying means inserts or superimposes voice message information to the effect that the operation is stopped into the voice data and transmits it to the other party, and aurally notifies the other party to stop the operation. The battery-powered communication device according to claim 4, wherein the communication device is a battery-powered communication device. 10. The operation stop notification means inserts or superimposes video message information to the effect that the operation is stopped into the video data and transmits the video data to the other party to visually notify the other party to stop the operation. 4. The method according to claim 4, 6, or 7, wherein
Alternatively, the battery-powered communication device according to item 8. 11. A message corresponding to the control code at the communication partner by transmitting to the communication partner a specific control code set in advance corresponding to the message information indicating that the operation has been stopped. 9. The battery-powered communication device according to claim 1, wherein information is generated and output.