JPH10145279A - Portable computer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make a transmitting and receiving antenna small and to enable long distance communication, even though it is small and light in weight by transmitting and receiving data through a low-orbit communication satellite. SOLUTION: A portable computer A and a portable computer B have the same structure, and both their users are assumed to be in the process of moving. In such cases, when data is transmitted and received between the computers A and B, a network that consists of low-orbit communication satellites N is used. That is, plural satellites N exist on the orbits, go rounds the earth and constitute a network in which communication relay service is always available. Plural satellites which constitute the network separately have a repeater. Data that is transmitted by the computer A is received by the computer B through relaying one of plural satellites. At the same time, data that is transmitted by the computer B is received by the computer A.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a portable computer, and more particularly, to a portable personal computer that can be used by moving.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a personal computer has a function of inputting and processing character data, image data, and voice data, and communicating with another device via a telephone line. Thereby, data can be exchanged with another device.

A remote education system for performing communication using a geostationary satellite is described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-273903. A system for communicating between a personal computer and a ship via a satellite is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-6 / 1993.
No. 7993. However, all of them use a stationary (desktop) personal computer. In such a case, it is difficult to carry.

As means for solving this problem, a portable transmitter / receiver is described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 6-244777. If this is connected to a handheld computer, communication with other devices can be performed.

[0005]

The above-mentioned prior art has a drawback that the devices are not integrated, resulting in poor portability and operability.

Further, in order to realize long-distance communication such as communication with foreign countries, it is necessary to perform communication via a geostationary satellite. However, in such a case, there is a disadvantage that an outdoor-mounted antenna is indispensable, and it is not possible to carry it as an integrated antenna at present.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a portable computer which realizes long-distance communication and is portable.

[0008]

A portable computer according to the present invention is characterized in that it includes a transmitting / receiving antenna and communication means for transmitting and receiving data to and from a low-orbit communication satellite by the antenna.

In short, a low orbit (Low Earth)
Orbit) By relaying and communicating via a communication satellite,
Long distance communication can be realized. Further, since the antenna itself can be reduced in size, the computer can be made portable.

[0010]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a portable computer according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, the computer includes a keyboard 1 for inputting character data, a data processing unit 2 for processing the input data, and a computer for transmitting and receiving data to and from a low-orbit communication satellite described later. And a communication unit 3 that outputs data from the data processing unit 2 to the antenna 4 according to a predetermined protocol and receives input data from the antenna 4, data that is processed by the data processing unit 2, and the like. And a monitor 5 for displaying the same. The monitor 5 may be of a liquid crystal type or a plasma type.

The communication unit 3 modulates data from the data processing unit 2 and demodulates data received via the antenna 4, and converts the data modulated by the modem unit 31 into radio waves. An RF unit 32 transmits data transmitted from the antenna 4 and received as radio waves via the antenna 4 to the modem unit 31. Thus, since the RF section 32 is provided in addition to the modem section 31, wireless communication can be performed.

In such a configuration, data input from the keyboard 1 is processed by the data processing unit 2 and then output from the communication unit 3 via the antenna 4. Data input via the antenna 4 is sent from the communication unit 3 to the data processing unit 2 and displayed on the monitor 5.

Here, in the present invention, not a geostationary communication satellite but a network based on a recently proposed low-orbit communication is used. As a result, the load on the transmission and reception performance of the communication device built in the computer can be significantly reduced. That is, a geostationary satellite used for broadcasting and the like is located at a height of 36000 [Km] on the ground, while a low-orbit communication satellite is located at a height of about 800 [Km] on the ground. Therefore, in the present invention, since communication is performed with the low-orbit communication satellite, the communication distance is short, so that a small transmitting and receiving antenna can be used.

As described above, since the amount of hardware required for realizing the communication function is very small, the satellite communication device and the multimedia mobile personal computer can be integrated in a small size. Therefore, this computer
Communication can be performed with other devices outdoors or while moving, and easy operability and portability can be realized.

In short, a low-orbit communication satellite has a much shorter distance from the ground than a geosynchronous communication satellite, and therefore has less propagation loss. For this reason, the transmission / reception performance of the terrestrial communication device can be suppressed low, and the device can be easily miniaturized. Therefore, a satellite communication device equipped with a satellite communication antenna and a multimedia mobile personal computer can be integrated. As described above, if it is integrated and portable, it can be used outdoors and on the move, greatly improving operability.

Next, how communication is performed using the above-described computer will be described with reference to FIG. FIG.
2, the same parts as those in FIG. 2 are indicated by the same reference numerals, and detailed description of those parts will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 1, it is assumed that the portable computer A and the portable computer B have the same configuration, and the user is moving. in this case,
When transmitting and receiving data between the portable computer A and the portable computer B, a network using the low-orbit communication satellite N is used. That is, a plurality of communication satellites N exist in orbit, and constitute a network capable of constantly providing a communication relay service while orbiting the earth. The plurality of satellites constituting this network each have a repeater.

The data transmitted from the portable computer A is received by the portable computer B by relaying one of the plurality of satellites.
At the same time, the data transmitted from the portable computer B is received by the portable computer A.

Here, according to the present invention, since communication is performed with the communication satellite N having an orbit with a short distance from the ground, the communication distance is short. Therefore, a small-sized antenna can be used as the transmitting / receiving antenna 4. For example, a linear antenna as shown in the figure can be used, and a large antenna is not required.

Therefore, the satellite communication device and the multimedia mobile personal computer can be integrated in a small size, and communication can be performed with another device outdoors or while moving.

The data to be communicated is not limited to character data, but may be audio, still images, moving images, or the like.

A microphone may be provided in the housing of the computer so that sound can be input. In such a case, the input voice is converted to DSP (Digital Signal).
A processor may convert the data into data that can be transmitted to the satellite.

Further, a camera may be provided so that a still image or a moving image can be inputted. In such a case, the data may be converted into data that can be transmitted to the satellite by performing a data compression process or the like.

Then, if a voice input from a microphone on the communication partner side is output from a speaker and a video input from a camera is output to a monitor, a so-called videophone can be realized.

In addition to the keyboard, a pointing device such as a mouse may be connected, or a handwriting input device may be provided.

In short, according to the present invention, a multimedia mobile computer capable of communicating all kinds of data can be realized.

The present invention can take the following aspects in connection with the description of the claims.

(1) The microphone further comprises a microphone for inputting voice, and a converting means for converting the input voice into data which can be transmitted to the satellite by the communication means. 4. The portable computer according to any one of 3.

(2) The camera further comprises a camera for inputting an image and a conversion means for converting the input image into data which can be transmitted to the satellite by the communication means. 4. The portable computer according to any one of 3.

(3) The portable computer according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the antenna is a linear antenna.

[0032]

As described above, according to the present invention, by transmitting / receiving data to / from a low-orbit communication satellite, the size of the transmitting / receiving antenna can be reduced, and long distance communication can be performed while being small and lightweight. There is an effect that a computer that can do this can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a state of communication using a portable computer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a portable computer according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 keyboard 2 data processing unit 3 communication unit 4 transmission / reception antenna 5 monitor 31 modem unit 32 RF unit A, B portable computer N low-orbit communication satellite

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A portable computer comprising: a transmitting / receiving antenna; and communication means for transmitting and receiving data to and from a low-orbit communication satellite using the antenna. 2. A portable computer comprising: a transmitting / receiving antenna; and communication means for transmitting and receiving data to and from other devices via a low-orbit communication satellite using the antenna. 3. A portable computer comprising: a transmitting / receiving antenna; and communication means for transmitting and receiving data between the transmitting and receiving antenna and at least one of a plurality of low-orbit communication satellites constituting a communication network.