JPH10117164A - Intermittent reception controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce power consumption by constituting a processing for turning off power based on the judgment of a prescribed condition in an on-state of power with software. SOLUTION: A self-frame detection part 53 detects the matching/nonmatching of the value of a frame number by an inner counter and the frame number of a portable terminal, which is previously set in a reception frame setting part 52, in an off-state of power at an intermittent reception mode. When they are matched, a power start instruction is given to a power control part 6 from the self-frame detection part 53 of the starting control part 5. The power control part 6 turns on power supply to the control part 3 and CPU 4 with the generation of the power starting instruction. When power supply to the radio part 2, the control part 3 and CPU 4 is turned on, CPU 4 starts a reception processing by the radio part 2 and the control part 3 with a stop control processing 41 being a program processing. A power stop instruction is sent from a stop processing control part 41 to the power control part 6 after the prescribed reception processing is executed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an intermittent reception control device for controlling power ON / OFF at a predetermined timing when receiving data sent from the outside.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, mobile phones and mobile terminals (pagers, etc.) which have been actively used in recent years, use a method called intermittent reception in order to extend the continuous usable time with a built-in power supply (battery) as much as possible. Has been applied.

[0003] The intermittent reception means that the power is frequently turned on / off during reception standby. That is, if there is no possibility that a message addressed to the user will be sent, turn off the power.
The power consumption is reduced by using the FF, and when there is a possibility that a message addressed to itself is sent, the power is turned on to receive data.

For example, the pager monitors the frame to which the data to be transmitted belongs, and shifts to a mode in which the power is intermittent when the signal is synchronized. In this intermittent reception mode, while the power is off, data reception is not performed, and only the timing in accordance with the signal synchronization is measured. Based on this timing, an effective frame (a message addressed to itself may be included). The power is turned on at the stage of recognizing and receiving this frame.

If there is no message addressed to the user in the valid frame, or if there is a message addressed to the user in the valid frame, and after receiving this message, the power is turned off again.
FF control is performed.

Conventionally, in order to perform such intermittent reception control, the power supply is turned on / off during the intermittent reception mode by a program process executed by a central processing unit (CPU) of the portable terminal.
F is controlled or dedicated hardware (such as a gate array LSI) is constructed for control.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram (part 1) for explaining a conventional example, in which intermittent reception control is performed by program processing. That is, the intermittent reception control device 1 'activates the program 41' of the intermittent control process by the CPU 4 'while the power of the wireless unit 2 and the control unit 3 indicated by dots in the drawing is OFF, and the program is transmitted. When the transmission frame number and the own frame number match, the power supply control unit 6 is instructed to start the power supply, and the wireless unit 2 and the control unit 3 are turned on. .

When the power is on, the CP
When a data error is detected by the program processing of U4 'or when the end of the data processing is detected, a power stop instruction is given to the power control unit 6, and the power of the radio unit 2 and the control unit 3 is turned off.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram (part 2) for explaining a conventional example, in which an intermittent reception control device is constituted by hardware. That is, in the intermittent reception control device 1 ″, the transmission frame management unit 51 ′, the reception frame setting unit 52 ′, the own frame detection unit 53 ′, the data processing end detection unit 54 ′, the data error detection The intermittent control section 5 'constituted by the section 55' is constructed by an LSI such as a gate array.

In the intermittent reception control device 1 ", when the intermittent reception mode is set, the power supply to the radio unit 2, the control unit 3, and the CPU 4" indicated by dots in the figure is turned off. Is power-on by the processing of the intermittent control unit 5 ',
Give a stop instruction. That is, when the frame number counted by the transmission frame management unit 51 ′ in the power-off state matches the frame number set in the reception frame setting unit 52 ′, the self-frame detection unit 53 ′ sends the power control unit 6, a power-on instruction is given, and the radio unit 2, the control unit 3,
Power is supplied to the CPU 4 ″.

When the power is on, the end of the data processing by the reception data processing unit 31 is detected by the data processing end detection unit 5.
4 ', or when a data error is detected by the data error detecting unit 55', a power stop instruction is given to the power control unit 6, and the wireless unit 2, the control unit 3, the CPU
The power supply to 4 ″ is stopped.

[0012]

However, such an intermittent reception control device has the following problems. That is, in the case where control is performed entirely by a program process, the CPU executes the program process, so that the CPU must be kept in an energized state at all times, and power consumption cannot be sufficiently reduced.

Also, depending on the load on the CPU, the accuracy of intermittent reception is inferior due to the delay time of processing, and in the worst case, data cannot be received. Since a portable terminal uses a CPU that does not have a very fast processing speed due to reductions in power consumption and mounting space, there is a problem that processing time overhead increases and real-time performance is lacking.

Further, when all of the intermittent reception control devices are configured by hardware, the gate scale of the LSI becomes large, and it is difficult to reduce the size of the portable terminal due to an increase in cost and mounting area.

[0015]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is an intermittent reception control device for solving such a problem. That is, the present invention relates to an intermittent reception control device for turning on / off an internal power supply and receiving this data in synchronization with the timing of data transmitted from the outside.
A start control unit having a hardware configuration that operates a counter synchronized with the timing of data transmitted in the FF state and turns on the power based on the value of the counter, and a state where the power is on And a central processing unit for executing a program process for turning off the power based on the result of the judgment of the condition.

In the present invention, a counter is operated in synchronization with the timing of data transmitted in a power-off state,
A startup control unit that turns on the power based on the value of the counter is configured by hardware, and the processing in the central processing unit that turns off the power based on a predetermined condition determination while the power is on is performed by program processing, that is, software. With this configuration, the central processing unit only needs to be operated when the program processing is executed, that is, only when the power is turned on. In addition, the hardware only needs to be configured to control the power on.

[0017]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an intermittent reception control apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an intermittent reception control device according to the present embodiment. The intermittent reception control device 1 is mainly applied to a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone or a pager, and intermittently receives (intermittent reception) which turns on / off an internal power supply in synchronization with the timing of data transmitted from the outside. Mode), the power is turned on under predetermined conditions,
Controls such as turning off are performed.

The intermittent reception control device 1 according to the present embodiment
Is an antenna A for receiving data sent from the outside,
Radio unit 2 for demodulating external data received by antenna A
And the frame number (frame N
o. ), And a CPU 4 for controlling the whole.
A start control unit 5 for controlling the power to be turned on from the state in which the power is turned off in the intermittent reception mode;
The stop control process 41 performs a program process for setting the power to F, and the power control unit 6 controls ON / OFF of the power.

In this configuration, in the intermittent reception mode, the activation control unit 5 for controlling the power to be turned on from the power-off state includes a transmission frame management unit 51, a reception frame setting unit 52, and a self-frame detection unit. And a hardware unit such as an LSI such as a gate array (see a portion surrounded by a broken line in the figure).

In the intermittent reception mode, the power is turned on.
The stop control process 41 for performing control of turning off from the state of being turned on provides the power control unit 6 with a signal for controlling the power from ON to OFF according to predetermined conditions such as data error detection and data processing end detection. It consists of a program. That is, the stop control process 41 has a software configuration executed by the CPU 4 (see a portion surrounded by a two-dot chain line in the figure).

Next, the operation of the intermittent reception control device 1 will be described. First, data transmitted from an external base station is received by the antenna A, demodulated by the radio unit 2, and passed to the control unit 3. The control unit 3 selects the frame No. from the data.
Take out. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of the frame. At the beginning of the data frame is a synchronization signal S,
Thereafter, there is data D (address, message, etc.).
The control unit 3 shown in FIG. 1 extracts frame information (frame No.) from the synchronization signal S and passes it to the transmission frame management unit 51.

The synchronization section (1) included in the synchronization signal S
The signal of the synchronizing unit (2) is used for synchronizing with a frame of data continuously transmitted from the outside. The activation control unit 5 operates an internal counter using the signals of the synchronization unit (1) and the synchronization unit (2) to synchronize the transmitted data with the frame.

The CPU 4 sends a frame No. stored in the portable terminal itself in advance. The received frame setting unit 52
Hand it over.

Next, when the synchronization is established, the mode is shifted to the intermittent reception mode. That is, the power supply control unit 6 is controlled so that the power supply to the radio unit 2, the control unit 3, and the CPU 4 (including the stop control process 41) indicated by dots in FIG. I do.

On the other hand, power is supplied to the start control unit 5 so as to synchronize with data transmitted by an internal counter operation. That is, actually, the wireless unit 2,
Since the operation of the control unit 3 is stopped, data reception via the antenna A is not performed. However, the activation control unit 5 executes a process of operating an internal counter to synchronize with a data frame.

FIG. 3 is a timing chart of the intermittent control. For example, the frame No. transmitted from the base station. Is m
-1, m, m + 1, ..., m + n-1, m + n, m + n +
It is assumed that the process proceeds in the order of 1,. Here, m
Is the frame number set in the reception frame setting unit 52 (see FIG. 1). Where n is 2 ^j (0 ≦ j ≦ 7) when the variable cycle value is j.

When synchronization with the frame transmitted by the internal counter of the activation control unit 5 is established, the frame number of the transmitted frame is determined. , The counter value also advances in order. In addition, as for the adding operation of the internal counter, counting is performed ahead of the transmission frame by the time k in consideration of the rising time of the wireless unit 2 when the power is turned on, which will be described later.

Next, with the power turned off in the intermittent reception mode, the frame number is determined by the internal counter.
And the frame number of the mobile terminal set in the reception frame setting unit 52 in advance. The self-frame detection unit 53 detects a match or a mismatch with the frame. Then, when the frame number is determined by the internal counter. And the frame number set in the reception frame setting section 52. Start control unit 5
The power supply start instruction is given from the self-frame detection unit 53 to the power supply control unit 6.

In the timing chart shown in FIG. 3, the frame No. counted by the internal counter is used. Becomes m (the value set in the reception frame setting unit 52), the power supply activation instruction T1 is generated.

In response to the power activation instruction T1, the power control unit 6 turns on the power supply to the radio unit 2, the control unit 3, and the CPU 4. As described above, since the counter inside the activation control unit 5 is advanced by the time k with respect to the frame to be transmitted, after the power activation instruction T1 is generated, the frame No. = M data is received until time k. Therefore, the start-up of the wireless unit 2 that has been powered off during this time k can be completed.

When the power supply to the radio unit 2, the control unit 3, and the CPU 4 is turned on, the CPU 4 starts a stop control process 41, which is a program process, together with the reception process by the radio unit 2 and the control unit 3. And the frame N
o. = M from the antenna A, and after performing a predetermined reception process, sends a power stop instruction from the stop control process 41 to the power control unit 6.

In the timing chart shown in FIG. 3, a power supply stop instruction T2 is generated, whereby the power supply from the power supply control unit 6 (see FIG. 1) to the radio unit 2, the control unit 3, and the CPU 4 is turned off.

The received frame No. = M includes a case where a message or the like to the portable terminal is included, and a case where it is not included (a case where a message of another portable terminal is transmitted even with the same frame number). The mobile terminal transmits the frame No. designated by itself.
In addition to the other frame Nos. At intervals based on the variable cycle value transmitted from the base station. Can also be received.

That is, the frame No. = M, and then the frame No. = M can be received at a predetermined interval n until the data is sent. Therefore, in the timing chart shown in FIG. 3, the power supply stop instruction T2 is generated and the power of the radio unit 2, the control unit 3, and the CPU 4 (see FIG. 1) is turned off.
In the state of FF, the counter value inside the activation control unit 5 is changed to the frame No. = M + n, the next power supply activation instruction T1 'is generated.

Thus, the radio unit 2, the control unit 3, and the C
When the power of the PU 4 is turned on, the frame No. = M + n
Shifts to the data receiving process. When the power is turned on, the stop control process 41 in the CPU 4 is started, and after the data reception process is completed, a power stop instruction T2 'shown in FIG. 3 is generated to turn off the power of the radio unit 2, the control unit 3, and the CPU 4.
FF.

[0036] Thereby, data can be received at predetermined intervals, and the radio unit 2 immediately before receiving a frame (valid frame) that may contain a message to its own portable terminal. Then, the power supply is performed by the control unit 3 and the CPU 4, and it becomes possible to shift to the reception state for all the valid frames.

In the stop control processing 41, besides detecting the end of the data reception processing and issuing a power supply stop instruction, when a data error such as a loss of synchronization with a transmitted frame is detected. A power stop instruction is also generated.

[0038]

As described above, the intermittent reception control device according to the present invention has the following effects. In other words, the startup control unit that turns on when the power is off is configured as a hardware, and the process for turning off when the power is on is configured as a software. The central processing unit can be turned off, and the power consumption can be reduced as compared with the case where all components are configured in software.

Further, the gate scale of the gate array LSI or the like can be reduced as compared with the case where all of the hardware configuration is used, and the entire device can be reduced in size. Furthermore, even if a CPU with a low processing speed is used, the startup control unit for controlling the power to be turned on is configured by hardware, so that the processing time overhead during reception is reduced. And the real-time property of data reception can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an intermittent reception control device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a frame configuration.

FIG. 3 is a timing chart of intermittent control.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram (part 1) for explaining a conventional example.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram (part 2) for explaining a conventional example.

[Description of Signs] 1 Intermittent reception control device 2 Radio unit 3 Control unit 4 CPU 5 Activation control unit 6 Power supply control unit 41 Stop control processing 51 Transmission frame management unit 52 Receive frame setting unit 53 Self-frame detection unit

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An intermittent reception control device for turning on / off an internal power supply and receiving the data in synchronization with the timing of data transmitted from the outside, wherein the power supply is off. A start control unit having a hardware configuration for operating a counter synchronized with the timing of the transmitted data and turning on the power based on the value of the counter; and a predetermined control when the power is on. An intermittent reception control device comprising: a central processing unit that determines a condition and executes a program process for turning off the power based on a result of the determination of the condition. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the activation control unit includes a frame management unit configured to recognize a frame number to which the transmitted data belongs by the counter, and a predetermined frame number and a frame number recognized by the frame management unit. When the power matches,
2. The intermittent reception control device according to claim 1, further comprising: a frame detection unit that outputs a signal for setting N.