JPH10197278A - Portable radio terminal equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simultaneously utilize both digital camera function and position display image data link function by providing a starting application managing unit, data capturing unit, position data memory, image data memory, position data controller and terminal managing unit. SOLUTION: A starting application managing unit 103 manages respective applications functioned in a portable radio terminal equipment. A data capturing unit 105 selects a data content for capturing data of a still image forming unit 101 and position data receiver 102 via a terminal managing unit 110 according to judging content of a shutter button managing unit 104. A position data controller 108 moves image data of an image data memory 107 to an image data storage unit 109 via the unit 110 or inserts data of a position data memory 106 to a header of the image data. The unit 110 controls the unit 103, unit 105 and a position data, image data and position data memories and controller 105, 107, and 108.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a wireless portable terminal device having an application for position information, and more particularly to an application for efficiently storing captured images.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, various terminal devices utilizing wireless communication have become widespread, not only in office environments, but also in PHS (Personal Handy Phone System) and cellular phones. GPS (Global Positioning System)
m) is no exception, and it has begun to play an active role in a wide range of areas, from normal car navigation functions to taxi delivery systems and security placement systems.

[0003] The GPS uses 24 satellites orbiting about 20,000 km above the earth, and receives data from three or more of these satellites, so that the receiving terminal device of the satellite can be used. This is a system that informs the user having the current location and time.

Normally, received data is calculated in a receiving terminal device based on data from three or more satellites, and the receiving terminal device is linked to map data previously stored in a CD-ROM or the like. By doing so, the user is informed of the current location, but the smaller the number of satellites to be received, the greater the error between the displayed position and the actual position.Therefore, accurate positioning can be performed in places with a poor view, such as in the city center. hard.

[0005] However, on the contrary, there are many rare buildings in the city center, and intersections and G that are difficult to understand even on a GPS map.
An application has been proposed in which an image is linked to a place where positioning cannot be performed by the PS so that the route is not mistaken.

The operation of this application will be briefly described. The receiving terminal device selects a mode for realizing an image capturing function in a state where the GPS is performing positioning, and the receiving terminal device captures the image at the moment when the mode is selected. Image is H
D (Hard Disc) or written to memory, then HD
Alternatively, a dedicated icon in a memory is read out, an automatically fetched image is registered as an icon on a map, and the icon and the image are linked so that the contents of the icon can be confirmed.

As described above, GPS is an effective system for leading the position display system, but the position display system is not the only one. For example, a current PHS or cellular telephone base station operates like a GPS satellite,
There has also been proposed a service for providing position data for displaying a current location to a user using the wireless line service.

[0008]

On the other hand, by installing a position display system such as GPS on a portable terminal of a sales person or the like, a function of easily navigating a route to a destination is provided. There is also a trend to develop a portable terminal device having the same.

[0009] This technology realizes a function of assisting a pedestrian in selecting a route by using a position display system technology. Apart from that, an image input device such as a digital camera is used in the portable terminal device. 2. Description of the Related Art A terminal device that is incorporated in a portable terminal device and has a function of incorporating a scene of a show, a timetable, a business card, or the like as an image has begun to appear on the market.

As described above, the function as a map mark, which is a trend on the position display system side, and the normal camera function, which is a trend on the portable terminal device side, have been developed individually. The situation is not yet planned.

Therefore, the present invention determines whether or not an application for a position display system is activated in an image input unit, and when activated, stores information taken in from the image input unit as a map mark. It is another object of the present invention to provide a wireless portable terminal device capable of storing an image as a normal image and automatically storing the image as a normal image when the device is not activated.

[0012]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, there is provided a wireless portable terminal device having a position display function, an image input unit for inputting an image, receiving position information, calculating a position of the terminal itself, and outputting the position data as position data. A position data receiving unit, a shutter button control unit that performs control for capturing an image, a position data memory unit that temporarily stores the position data, and an image data memory unit that temporarily stores image data. A starting application management unit that manages a running application; a data capturing unit that captures data from the image input unit or the position data receiving unit based on the shutter button control unit; Data transfer means for transferring the transferred data to the position data memory section or the image data memory section; A position data control unit that inserts position data into data, an image data storage unit that stores data created by the position data control unit, and a position data display application that uses information of the running application management unit. A data management unit that controls the data capture unit, the position data memory unit, the image data memory unit, and the position data control unit, and position data obtained from the position data reception unit, depending on whether or not the device is running Position data capture determining means for determining whether or not to send the data to the data capture unit; and based on the terminal management unit, data obtained from the position data memory unit or the image data memory unit to the position data control unit. Position to determine whether to send or to send only the data in the image data memory unit to the image data storage unit And a chromatography data insertion decision means.

Thus, while the position display function is activated, the function of the image input unit uses not only the function of marking the image input unit on a map but also the function of a normal camera. can do.

Further, since the position data receiving section has a GPS receiving section, the cost for receiving position information can be further reduced.

Further, since the position data receiving section has a receiving section for a wireless line, the receiver can be diverted when a wireless line is incorporated as a wireless portable terminal.

Further, the position data receiving section has a GPS receiving section and has a function of judging the number of receivable satellites, and the position data fetching judging means is provided when the number of satellites is less than a designated number. Has a function of not capturing the position data from the position data receiving unit,
It is possible to reduce a map error caused by an error of the GPS.

Further, there is provided position data existence judging means for judging whether or not data has been written to the position data memory section, and the position data insertion judging means has a function of making judgment based on the position data existence judging means. With this configuration, the load on the terminal management unit can be reduced.

Further, the position data insertion determining means includes:
By having the function of making a determination based on the information of the terminal management unit, the present invention can be realized without using the position data existence determination means.

[0019]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a wireless portable terminal device according to one embodiment of the present invention. The wireless portable terminal device according to the present embodiment is a terminal having a GPS function and a digital camera function.

In FIG. 1, a still image creation unit 101 captures a still image by pressing a shutter button, similarly to a normal digital camera. A position data receiving unit 102 receives data from a satellite, The current position of the user is calculated as position data.

The running application management unit 103
The terminal management unit 110 manages each application functioning on the wireless portable terminal device, and sequentially reports when the terminal management unit 110 wants to know the running application. The shutter button management unit 104 controls the shutter button by the user. Is to determine whether or not is pressed.

The data input unit 105 includes a shutter
The terminal management unit 1 is determined by the button management unit 104.
When the information of the running application management unit 103 is obtained via the control unit 10 and the GPS application is running, the still image creating unit 101 and the position data receiving unit 102
When the GPS application is not activated, the content of the data to be captured is selected, such as capturing only the data of the still image creation unit 101.

When the data fetching unit 105 has position data, the position data memory unit 106 stores the position data in an SRAM (Static Random Access Memory), D
RAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory), FLASH
It is stored in a memory such as a memory.

The image data memory unit 107 stores the image data in the data acquisition unit 105 in an SRAM (Static Ran).
dom Access Memory), DRAM (Dynamic Random Acc)
essMemory), FLASH memory, VRAM (Video Ran)
dom Access Memory).

The position data control unit 108 is the terminal management unit 1
Based on the information of the running application management unit 103 via the server 10, the image data in the image data memory unit 107 is moved to the image data storage unit 109 as it is, or the data in the position data memory unit 106 is inserted into the header of the image data Or something.

The image data storage unit 109 stores the data received from the position data control unit 108 in HD / FD (Flop).
py Disc) / MD (Mini Disc) and the like. The terminal management unit 110 includes a running application management unit 103, a data acquisition unit 105, a position data memory unit 106, an image data memory unit 107, It controls the position data control unit 108.

Next, FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation in the wireless portable terminal device of the present embodiment as described above.

In FIG. 5, S201 is a step for starting the operation of this flowchart, and S202 is a step for pressing a shutter button of the digital camera.

Next, step S203 is a step of storing the captured still image in the memory by the operation of step S202. Step S204 is to search the information of the running application management unit 103 to start the GPS application. This is a step of determining whether or not the GPS application is running. If the GPS application is running, the process moves to S205; otherwise, the process moves to S208. The GPS application includes map data, a GPS operation application, and the like.

Next, step S205 is a step of storing the position data at the time when step S202 was executed in the memory.
Reference numeral 206 denotes a GUI (Graphica) for allowing the user to select whether or not to register the image data as a mark on a map.
l User Interface). The process moves to S207 if registration is to be performed, and S20 if registration is not to be performed.
Move to 8.

In step S207, the position data memory unit 106
Using the data in the image data memory unit 107, the position data in the position data memory unit 106 is read,
This is a step of inserting the image data into a part of the image data memory unit 107 such as a header.

In step S208, the image data memory unit 1
07 is a step of reading the accumulated image data, S209 is a step of reading the data processed in S207, and writing the image data to the image data storage unit 109, and S210 is a step of writing the image data to the image data storage unit 109. It is.

Step S211 is a step of automatically displaying a dedicated icon based on the data in the image data storage unit 109 in order to notify the user that there is image data linked to the map in the image data storage unit 109. Step S212 is a step to end the operation of this flowchart.

As described above, according to this embodiment,
By providing an effective GUI that can simultaneously use the function of the digital camera and the function of linking image data for position display, even while the position display function is running,
It is possible to easily distinguish the position display image data from the normal camera image data. In addition, it is possible to quickly estimate the accuracy error of the position display technology itself, and to effectively link the map and the image.

In the first embodiment as described above,
The following modifications are possible.

First, the wireless portable terminal device of the first embodiment
It is defined as a terminal that has a GPS function and a digital camera function.
APS (Advanced Photograph System)
m) You can switch to a camera or a traditional analog camera,
Alternatively, a PIM (Personal Information Manager) function can be added. However, in the case of an APS camera or an analog camera, A / D conversion is required in the still image creation unit 101 in order to capture a digital image in the data capture unit 105. In addition, it is assumed that these camera functions may input not only a still image but also a moving image.

Further, in the first embodiment, as an example of the position display system, a wireless portable terminal device having a built-in GPS is described, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, it is assumed that each switch of a PHS or a cellular phone stores some kind of position information, and the position data can be calculated by using the position information.

The shutter button 104 need not be a physically isolated button. For example, the shutter function may be realized when a certain button on a keyboard in the terminal is pressed, or may be realized by a software GUI.

Further, the position data control unit 108 determines whether or not to insert the position data of the position data memory unit 106 into the image data of the image data memory unit 107 based on the information of the running application management unit 103. But that is not all. For example, if the position data memory unit 106 is designed as a buffer and no data is stored in the buffer, the image data memory unit 1
A determination method of moving only the image data 07 to the image data storage unit 109 may be used. When inserting the position data into the image data, the position data need not be the header part.

Regarding the order of S203,
It may be after S204 or after S205.

In addition, S207 is not limited to the above method. For example, the position data memory unit 106,
It is assumed that the position data can be inserted into the image data by reading the respective data from the image data memory unit 107 and processing the data in hardware.

In step S 211, the position of the icon is automatically identified based on the position data in the image data storage unit 109, but it is not limited to this. For example, it is assumed that the position data stored in the position data memory unit 106 is not erased until this step is completed, and the position data memory unit 106 can be referred to.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. Also in the second embodiment, the wireless portable terminal device is a terminal having a GPS function and a digital camera function.

Here, the GPS generally requires a positioning error of about 20 m or less when the number of received satellites is four or more. Without the auxiliary device, the current position cannot be displayed on the map.

That is, if the number of satellites received by the position data receiving unit 102 is less than three, the error of the position data is likely to be large. Therefore, in this embodiment, the number of received satellites is less than three. The operation of the wireless portable terminal device in case (1) will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. It is assumed that the number of received satellites is detected by the position data receiving unit 102.

In the figure, S301 is a step for starting the operation of this flowchart, and S302 is a step for pressing a shutter button of the digital camera.

In step S303, the captured still image is stored in the memory by the operation in step S302. In step S304, the active application management unit 103 is activated.
Is a step of determining whether the GPS application is running by retrieving the information of
If the PS application is running, S30
The process moves to S307, and if not running, moves to S307.

In step S305, a G for allowing the user to select whether or not to register the image data as a mark on a map is set.
This is a step of providing a UI.
6, and if not registered, the process moves to S307.

In step S307, the image data memory unit 1
07 is a step of reading the accumulated image data, and thereafter, the process proceeds to S311.

Step S306 is a step of reading icons stored in advance in a storage medium such as HD, FD, or MD. S308 drags the icon,
A step of setting a position by selecting and clicking on a position where image data is desired to be linked,
Step 309 is a step of notifying the image data memory unit 107 of the position data of the location specified in S308. S310 is a step of inserting the position data obtained in S309 into the image data.

Step S311 is a step of moving the image data from the image data memory unit 107 to the image data storage unit 109, and step S312 is a step of ending the operation of this flowchart.

In the second embodiment as described above,
The following modifications are possible.

First, it is assumed that S308 is not limited to a drag or click operation. For example, the operation may be such that the map data is moved up, down, left, and right to a previously displayed mark, a location to which the image data is linked is selected, and a decision button is pressed.

In S309 and S310, it is assumed that the determination means for linking the image data and the icon is not limited to only the position data. For example, a number may be assigned to the icon, and the image data and the icon may be linked using the number as a criterion.

[0055]

As described above, according to the present invention,
While the position display function is activated, the function of the image input unit is not only a function for marking the image input unit on a map, but also a function as a normal camera can be used. It is possible to provide an effective wireless portable terminal device that can simultaneously use the function of a camera and the function of linking image data for position display.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101: Still image creation unit, 102: Position data reception unit, 103: Active application management unit, 104: Shutter / button management unit, 105: Data acquisition unit, 106: Position data memory unit, 107: Image data memory unit, 108: Position data control unit, 109: Image data storage unit, 110: Terminal management unit

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A wireless portable terminal device having a position display function, comprising: an image input unit for inputting an image; a position data receiving unit for receiving position information, calculating a position of the terminal itself, and outputting the calculated position as position data; A position data memory unit for temporarily storing the position data, an image data memory unit for temporarily storing image data, a running application management unit for managing a running application, the image input unit and the position A data capturing unit that captures data from a data receiving unit; a data transport unit that transfers data captured by the data capturing unit to the position data memory unit or the image data memory unit; and inserting position data into the image data A position data control unit, and image data for storing data created by the position data control unit A storage unit, using the information of the running application management unit, and fetching the data depending on whether a position data display application is running or not, the position data memory unit, the image data memory unit, and the position data A terminal management unit that controls a control unit, a position data capture determination unit that determines whether to send the position data obtained from the position data reception unit to the data capture unit, based on the terminal management unit, Position data insertion determination means for determining whether to send data obtained from the position data memory unit or the image data memory unit to the position data control unit or to send only data in the image data memory unit to the image data storage unit A wireless portable terminal device comprising: 2. The wireless portable terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the position data receiving unit has a GPS receiving unit. 3. The wireless portable terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the position data receiving unit has a receiving unit for a wireless line. 4. The position data receiving section according to claim 1, wherein the position data receiving section has a GPS receiving section and has a function of determining the number of receivable satellites. A wireless portable terminal device having a function of not taking in position data from the position data receiving unit when the number is less than a designated number. 5. The position data existence determining unit according to claim 1, further comprising: a position data existence determining unit configured to determine whether or not data has been written to the position data memory unit. A wireless portable terminal device having a function of making a judgment. 6. The wireless portable terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the position insertion determining unit has a function of making a determination based on information of the terminal management unit.