JPH1039966A - Information processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To display information for judging the communication state by detecting the reception intensity of received signals at a connection part for communication and displaying the detected reception intensity at a display part. SOLUTION: At the time of receiving reception optical signals 100, a light receiving part 14 inside the connection part 10 for optical communication performs conversion to electric signals 101 for indicating a current value corresponding to the optical signal intensity of the reception optical signals 100 and outputs them to an information conversion part 15 and an external reception light intensity detection part 11. The information conversion part 15 converts the electric signals 101 to the reception information signals 102 of a digital form and a reception information storage part 12 stores the information contents in the storage medium of a memory or the like. The reception light intensity detection part 11 inputs the electric signals 101, detects the reception light intensity and decides an intensity level and a monitor part 13 displays the information of a reception light intensity level by an indicator 16. Thus, a user easily recognizes the degree of the reception light intensity at a present communication position.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus having a display device and a communication connection device, and more particularly to a function of communicating with other devices by a wireless communication connection device for performing wireless optical communication or wireless radio wave communication. The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus including:

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, an information processing device having a function of performing data communication between devices by wireless communication technology has appeared. In wireless communication, the strength of a received signal fluctuates greatly depending on the spatial arrangement of devices on the transmitting and receiving sides. When the attenuation of the received signal strength increases, the quality of the received signal deteriorates. Therefore, generally, the line quality tends to be lower than that of the wired communication. Such a tendency is remarkable in mobile communication devices, and it is essential to maintain a good communication environment for accurate information transmission.

[0003] Therefore, for example, in portable telephones which are becoming popular, in order to enable users to talk in good communication conditions even in urban areas where the propagation path of radio waves used as a communication medium becomes very complicated. Then, the strength information of the received signal (radio wave) is displayed by an indicator. FIG. 2 shows a display unit of such a mobile phone. 1 is a display unit, 2 is an indicator. The receiving circuit of the portable telephone determines whether the strength of the received signal at a certain time satisfies the required electric field strength for performing a telephone call, and displays the indicator of the electric field strength of the current received signal with the indicator 2. ing. By looking at the indicator 2, the user can determine whether or not a good call can be made in the current environment (device position).

On the other hand, information processing apparatuses such as personal computers, personal digital assistants, and personal digital assistants typified by notebook personal computers include wired communication lines, wireless (portable) telephones, and other information processing apparatuses. 2. Description of the Related Art A wireless optical communication technology using light as a medium has been widely used as a communication connection device for connecting between devices. Many of these communication connecting devices are equipped with wireless infrared communication means using infrared light. In wireless infrared communication, light-emitting elements such as light-emitting diodes “light up” and “do not emit”
By controlling to the state, the digital information signal is spatially transmitted as optical signal information, and this is received by a light receiving element such as a light receiving diode to restore the digital information signal, which is an advantage that can be realized with a simple configuration. There is.
Light is useful as a communication medium for avoiding interference since light has a strong directivity in the air.

[0005] However, since the light propagates in a straight line, there is a problem that line obstruction on the transmission line causes a significant drop in line receiving power and deterioration of the received light intensity, and transmission errors due to natural light and noise interference easily occur. It is often used for a desk-top information processing apparatus or a portable information processing apparatus that can be used in a communication environment in which a transmitting / receiving unit in a communication connection device of a transmitting / receiving device is arranged at a short distance and transmits information. . In wireless optical communication of such a device, it is important to ensure a good communication state, similarly to radio communication, but since it is used in a close-range communication mode,
The arrangement of the transmission / reception units in the transmission-side and reception-side devices is designed to be intuitively performed by the user.

[0006]

The arrangement of devices in a conventional portable information processing device provided with a connection device for wireless optical communication is designed so that a user can intuitively perform the arrangement based on the specifications of the device. There is no indicator for displaying the communication status. Generally, the transmitting and receiving unit is arranged so as to obtain a required communication state, but there is an inconvenience that the communication state cannot be confirmed. In addition, when the device is placed on a desk and used, the communication environment may be deteriorated such that an obstacle may enter between the transmitting and receiving units during use, and the communication environment may be deteriorated. Overlooked results in data errors.

[0007] Further, since the received light intensity in wireless optical communication and the received electric field intensity in wireless radio wave communication do not indicate the reliability of transmitted information itself, high information transmission reliability is required for the transmission path. In the case of such information communication, a great effect cannot be expected as the judgment information for recognizing the quality of the communication state.

Accordingly, a first object of the present invention is to enable an information processing apparatus provided with a connection device for wireless optical communication to display information for judging the quality of a communication state. Specifically, it is an object of the present invention to detect and display the reception intensity of a wireless optical communication signal.

A second object of the present invention is to enable display of reliability information of a received signal in an information processing apparatus having a wireless communication connection device using light or radio waves as a medium. . Specifically, it is an object of the present invention to detect and display how accurate the received information content is transmitted.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus having a communication connection unit for transmitting information by wireless communication, wherein a reception intensity detection unit is provided to receive a signal received at the communication connection unit. Detecting the strength, and also providing a reception information reliability detection unit, detects the reliability of the signal received at the communication connection unit, and displays the reception strength and reliability information detected by both detection units on the display unit By doing so, the user is informed of the communication state.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of an information processing apparatus according to the present invention suitable for achieving the first object of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 10 is an optical communication connection unit, 11 is a received light intensity detection unit, 12 is a reception information storage unit, 13 is a monitor unit of a portable information device 17 on the reception side,
100 is a received light signal, 101 is an electric signal generated at the time of receiving light, 102 is a received information signal, and 103 is a received light intensity detection signal. The optical communication connection unit 10 includes a light receiving unit 14 and an information conversion unit 15, and the monitor unit 13 displays an indicator 16 indicating the light receiving intensity. The monitor unit 13 is originally a display unit integrally incorporated in the information device 17 for displaying the content of information handled in information processing performed independently by the portable information device 17 on the receiving side.

When a received optical signal 100 transmitted from the information equipment on the transmitting side is input to the optical communication connection unit 10, the optical communication connection unit 10 converts the received optical signal 100 into an electric signal 101 by the light receiving unit 14. . Then, the information conversion unit 15
Converts this electrical signal 101 into a received information signal 102. The reception information signal 102 is a signal for transmitting the received information content, and the reception information storage unit 12 stores the reception information signal 102.

The received light intensity detecting section 11 receives the electric signal 101
Is input, the received light intensity is detected, the intensity level is determined, and a received light intensity detection signal 103 is output to the monitor unit 13. The received light intensity detection signal 103 is a signal for transmitting information on the received light intensity level, and the monitor unit 13 displays the information on the received light intensity level using the indicator 16. In this embodiment, the indicator 16 will be described as a format in which the received light intensity state can be identified in four stages.

The internal structure of each block will be described in detail.

When the light receiving section 14 in the optical communication connection section 10 receives the received optical signal 100, the light receiving section 14 converts the received optical signal 100 into an electric signal 101 indicating a current value corresponding to the optical signal intensity of the received optical signal 100, and converts it into an information converting section. 15 and an external received light intensity detector 11. The information conversion unit 15 converts the analog electric signal 1
01 is converted into a digital information signal in order to be handled inside the portable information device 17 on the receiving side, and this is output to the received information storage unit 12 as a received information signal 102.

When the reception information signal 102 is input, the reception information storage unit 12 stores the information content included in the reception information signal 102 in a storage medium such as a memory.

The light receiving section 14 is constituted by a photodiode. Since the current flowing through the photodiode changes according to the light intensity of the received optical signal 100, the photodiode can output a current corresponding to the intensity of the received optical signal 100 to the received light intensity detection unit 11.

Here, the received light intensity detecting section 11 performs the first
This embodiment is a feature of the first embodiment, and will be described in detail below.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a specific example of the configuration of the received light intensity detector 11. As shown in FIG. Reference numeral 30 denotes a current / voltage converter, 31 denotes an A / D converter, 32 denotes an indicator level determiner, 300 denotes a voltage conversion signal, and 301 denotes a received light intensity information signal. Here, the received light intensity information signal 301 transmits information obtained by digitally converting the voltage value of the voltage conversion signal 300.

The current / voltage conversion unit 30 receives the received optical signal 10
An electric signal 102 indicating a current value corresponding to an optical signal intensity of 0 is input, and a current change of the electric signal 102 is converted into a voltage change and output to the A / D converter 31 as a voltage conversion signal 300. The current / voltage converter 30 connects a resistive load to the inverting amplifier, detects a current value flowing into the resistor as a potential difference between the resistance terminals, and further realizes current / voltage conversion by amplifying the potential difference. Voltage conversion signal 300
Is an analog value that indicates the optical signal intensity of the light receiving signal 100 by the magnitude of the voltage value. The A / D converter 31 converts the voltage conversion signal 300 into a digital value and outputs the digital value as a received light intensity information signal 301 to the indicator level determiner 32.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a specific example of the configuration of the indicator level determining section 32. As shown in FIG. 33 is a threshold register unit, 34 is a comparison unit, and 302 to 304 are threshold information signals. In order to display the indicator 16 in the form of expressing the received light intensity state in four stages, the threshold register unit 33 includes three registers, a register A, a register B, and a register C, and the comparison unit 34 includes the comparison unit A and the comparison unit B. And three comparison units C and C. Note that the threshold information signals 302 to 3
Reference numeral 04 denotes information of the threshold register 33.

In the registers A to C of the threshold register 33, thresholds for determining an indicator level are stored in advance. The three pieces of threshold information are provided by a threshold information signal 302
３０４304 are input to the comparison units A〜C of the comparison unit 34, respectively.

When the received light intensity information signal 301 is inputted to the comparing section 34 in a state where the threshold value is inputted to each of the comparing sections A to C,
Each of the comparison units A to C has a threshold value 3 for determining an indicator level.
A magnitude comparison process between the received light intensity information signal 301 and the received light intensity information signal 301 is performed. Each of the comparison units A to C receives the received light intensity information signal 3
01 is the threshold value 302 to 304 for determining the indicator level
If it is larger than the threshold value, a high level signal is output and the received light intensity information signal
If it is smaller than 02 to 304, a low level signal is output. The comparison unit 34 outputs the processing results of the comparison units A to C to the monitor unit 13 as the received light intensity detection signal 103.

The monitor unit 13 displays the indicator 16 based on the received light intensity detection signal 103 output from the indicator level determination unit 32. Specifically, if the output signal of the comparison unit A of the indicator level determination unit 32 is at a high level, the display part A of the indicator 16 is displayed, and if the output signal is at a low level, the display part A is not displayed. Similarly, the display of the display portion B and the display portion C of the indicator 16 is controlled based on the output signals of the comparison portions B and C.

As described above, in the first embodiment, the light reception intensity of the received optical signal is detected, and the reception state can be identified by the display portions A to C of the light reception intensity indicator 16 according to the detected light intensity. In this way, the user can easily recognize the degree of the received light intensity at the current communication position, and the user interface in wireless optical communication is improved.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the optical communication connection unit 10, the light reception intensity detection unit 11, and the reception information storage unit 12 are arranged outside the portable information device 17 on the reception side. However, in practice, it is practical to adopt a configuration in which all the components are integrated into the portable information device 17.

In the first embodiment, the indicator 1
In order to determine the indicator level of No. 6, the output logic level of the comparing unit 34 and the display / non-display of the display parts A to C in the indicator 16 are associated with each other in FIG.
The correspondence is not limited to such an expression form. Also, the received light intensity was converted to digital information,
However, the present invention is not limited to this.
The indicator level can also be easily determined by comparing the analog information 01 with the reference voltage which has been subjected to resistance division in advance using analog data as it is using a general-purpose comparator.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the information processing apparatus according to the present invention, which is suitable for achieving the second object of the present invention. In FIG. 5, reference numeral 18 denotes a received information reliability detection unit, and 104 denotes a received information reliability detection signal. The connection unit 10 for optical communication, the reception information storage unit 12, and the monitor unit 13 of the portable information device 17 on the reception side are the same as those of the first communication unit.
Since these units have the same functions as the units described in the embodiments, the same reference numerals are given and duplicate explanations are omitted. The monitor unit 13 displays the indicator 16. In the second embodiment, the indicator 16 is displayed so as to function as a reception information reliability indicator.

The optical communication connection unit 10 converts the received optical signal 100 into a received information signal 102 and outputs the same as in the first embodiment. In the second embodiment, the received information signal 102 is input to the received information reliability detector 18 to detect the reliability of the received information signal 102, and the reliability of the received information is displayed on the indicator 16 of the monitor 13. There is a feature in that.

The received information reliability detector 18 analyzes the received information signal 102 to detect an error rate of information transmission of the received optical signal 100, determines the reliability level thereof, and
As a received information reliability detection signal 104. The received information reliability detection signal 104 is a signal for transmitting information of the received information reliability level, and the monitor unit 13 displays the information of the received information reliability level with the indicator 16.

Hereinafter, each block will be described in detail.

As in the first embodiment, the optical communication connection unit 10 converts the input received optical signal 100 into the received information signal 10.
2 and output to the reception information storage unit 12. The received information storage unit 12 stores the received information content. The received information signal 102 is also input to the received information reliability detector 18.

Here, the reception information reliability detector 18 is a feature of the second embodiment, and will be described in detail below.

The received information reliability detector 18 is configured to execute two detection modes in order to detect the reliability of information transmission on the communication line. One is a test communication mode in which a test communication period for performing test information communication is provided before performing user information communication, and the reliability of the received test information is detected and displayed by the indicator 16. The other is a real-time communication mode in which the reliability of information received during user information communication is detected and displayed on the indicator 16.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a specific example of the configuration of the received information reliability detector 18. In FIG. 6, 4
0 is a detection control unit, 41 is an error detection unit for a test communication mode, 42 is an error detection unit for a real-time communication mode, 43
Is an indicator level determination unit, 400 is a test communication mode reception information signal, 401 is a real-time communication mode reception information signal, 402 is a test communication mode error rate detection signal, and 403 is a real-time communication mode error rate detection signal.

The detection control section 40 includes a mode selection section 44 and a buffer section 45. The test communication mode error detection unit 41 includes a reception information error detection unit 46, a test communication information storage unit 47, and a code error rate calculation unit 48. The real-time communication mode error detecting section 42 includes an error detecting code calculating section 49, a received information error detecting section 50, and a frame error rate calculating section 51.

The detection control section 40 is a means for mainly controlling detection timing. The buffer unit 45 of the detection control unit 40 stores the input received information signal 102 only in an information amount of a certain size. By storing the reception information in this way, it is possible to control the detection timing when performing error detection. Switching of the output destination of the stored reception information is performed by the internal mode selection unit 44 notifying the buffer unit 45 of the output switching signal 404. In the case of the test communication mode, the buffer unit 45 outputs the stored information to the test communication mode error detection unit 41 by the test communication mode reception information signal 400. In the case of the real-time communication mode,
The information is output to the real-time communication mode error detection unit 42 according to the real-time communication mode reception information signal 401.

The test communication mode error detector 41 detects a transmission error of the received optical information 100 in the test communication mode. Hereinafter, the error detection unit 41 for the test communication mode will be described.
Will be described.

In the test communication mode, the information equipment on the transmitting side is set so as to repeatedly transmit predetermined known test information. The reception information is input to the reception information error detector 46 in units of the amount of test information. The test communication information storage unit 47 also stores test information in advance, and outputs the test information to the reception information error detection unit 46 as an error detection reference information signal for test communication 405 during error detection processing. The reception information error detection unit 46 detects an error by comparing the received test information reception signal and the content of the test communication error detection reference information signal 405 in bit units. Further, it counts the number of code errors in the received information and outputs it as a test communication error detection signal 406 to the code error rate calculator 48. The code error rate calculator 48 accumulates the number of input code errors and calculates the code error rate per unit information amount by calculation. Here, the calculation of the code error rate is realized by dividing the accumulated number of code errors by the total number of received information. Further, the calculated code error rate is determined by the test communication mode error rate detection signal 402 using the indicator level determination unit 4.
Output to 3.

As described above, in the test communication mode, by detecting an error in the content of the known test information (reception information) transmitted in units of 1 bit, the detection result is used in the current communication state (device position). Analyze the reliability of the information transmission path.

The real-time communication mode error detector 42
Is the received light information 10 in the real-time communication mode.
A transmission error of 0 is detected. Next, error detection of the real-time communication mode error detection unit 42 will be described.

In the real-time communication mode, the information processing apparatus on the transmitting side transmits information including user information. Here, the user information is transmitted by the frame synchronization method employed in infrared communication among wireless optical communication. An example will be described. In the current transmission error detection technology of wireless communication, an error detection code corresponding to the content of transmission information is determined by calculation, and the error detection code is added to the transmission frame, so that the error detection on the receiving side is performed. Function is realized. Here, a method of detecting the reliability of received information in a real-time communication mode using the error detection code will be described.

The received information is input to the error detection code operation unit 49 in units of the amount of frame information. The error detection code calculation unit 49 calculates the error detection code from the user information in the received information by calculation. The calculation result is output to the reception information error detection unit 50 as an error detection code calculation signal 407. As described above, a field for adding an error detection code is provided in the frame information.
At the same time, the reception information signal 401 for the real-time communication mode is input to the reception information error detector 50. Therefore, the reception information error detection unit 50 compares the calculated error detection code (calculation signal 407) with the received error detection code (reception information signal 401) to determine whether there is an error in the frame information. Detect if. If a frame error is detected, the number of frame errors is counted, and the accounting information is output to the frame error rate calculation unit 51 as a received information error detection signal 408. The frame error rate calculator 51 accumulates the number of input frame errors and calculates the frame error rate per unit information amount by calculation. Here, the calculation of the frame error rate is realized by dividing the accumulated number of frame errors by the total number of received information. Further, the calculated frame error rate is output to the indicator level determination unit 43 as a real-time communication mode error rate detection signal 403.

In the case of the test communication mode, the indicator level determination unit 43 outputs the test communication mode error rate detection signal 4
02, and in the real-time communication mode, the real-time communication mode error detection signal 403 is input. here,
The indicator level determining unit 43 has almost the same function as the indicator level determining unit 32 of FIG. 3 in the first embodiment, determines the indicator level from the input error rate information, and Degree detection signal 104
To output the received information reliability level information to the monitor unit 13.

Then, the monitor unit 13 indicates the indicator level determined by the indicator level determination unit 43 based on the received information reliability detection signal 104 by the indicator 16.
Display by The display control function of the monitor unit 13 is also the same as that described in the first embodiment, and differs only in that the indicator 16 performs a display expressing the reliability of the received information.

As described above, in the second embodiment, the state of the received information reliability is detected and displayed before and during the user information communication, so that the user can
It is possible to always recognize the degree of reliability of the received information at the current communication position. For example, communication may fail even at a communication position where high reception information reliability can be ensured due to natural light interference, interruption by an obstacle, negotiation failure in a communication protocol, and the like. In such a case, even if the display level (reliability) of the indicator 16 is high in the test communication mode, the display level of the indicator 16 is low in the real-time communication mode. By visually checking the indicator 16 in the real-time communication mode, the user recognizes that communication processing is not in progress for some reason during user information communication, and changes the light level so that the display level of the indicator 16 increases. The arrangement position of the communication connection unit can be changed.

Moreover, since the indicator 16 displays the result of analyzing the received information and detecting the communication state of the communication line, it is possible to realize information communication in a highly reliable communication state. Thus, it is possible to improve the communication success probability and the user interface in wireless optical communication.

In the second embodiment, as a method for recognizing the reliability of information transmission, a combination of the test communication mode and the real-time communication mode has been described. However, the test communication mode and the real-time communication mode are independently used. Even if it is used, highly reliable information communication can be realized. For example, the reliability can be improved even in a configuration in which a test communication mode is used alone to confirm a good device position for information communication.

In the error rate detection in the real-time communication mode, a method for detecting an error in received information using an error detection code has been described. It is not limited to an error detection coding method such as a checksum method or a CRC (cyclic code) method. If it is an information transmission method capable of detecting an error of received information, the reliability of the received information is detected. The display by the indicator 16 can be realized.

In the second embodiment, the error rate of the information received by the radio wave communication is detected by replacing the optical communication connection section 10 with the radio wave communication connection section, and the error rate is determined based on the error rate. It is possible to detect the reliability of the reception information in the radio wave communication and display the reliability on the monitor unit 13 with the indicator 16.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a third embodiment of the information processing apparatus according to the present invention suitable for achieving the first and second objects of the present invention. The third embodiment is configured by combining the components in the first and second embodiments described above, and the same functional units are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted.

In FIG. 7, reference numeral 19 denotes a communication state detecting unit, which is the light receiving intensity detecting unit 1 in the first embodiment described above.
Received Information Reliability Detector 18 in First and Second Embodiments
It is a configuration including.

The monitor section 13 has a display function basically similar to that already described. In the third embodiment, in particular, the light receiving intensity indicator 20 and the received information reliability indicator 21 are provided with two indicators. indicate. Although the received light intensity indicator 20 has a different expression form from the indicator 16 in the above-described embodiment, the expression function is the same as that of the indicator 16.

The detailed structure of the constituent means shown in each block is the same as that described in the first embodiment and the second embodiment, and is integrated in the portable information device 17. Therefore, here, this portable information device 1
7, the level display of the received light intensity indicator 20 and the received information reliability indicator 21 changes according to the position of the portable information device (communication connection unit) 17.

FIG. 8 shows a specific example of a communication state display when wireless optical communication is actually performed with the desktop information processing device 60 on the transmitting side using the portable information device 17 on the receiving side in the third embodiment. It is a figure showing an example. Reference numeral 60 denotes a desktop information device on the transmission side, 61 denotes an optical communication connection device for the desktop information device 60 on the transmission side, 62 denotes an optical information propagation range, 63, 64, and 6;
5 is the location of each device of the portable information device 17 on the receiving side, 2
0A, 20B, and 20C are light-receiving intensity indicators displayed on the display unit 13 of each portable information device 17 at each device arrangement position, and 21A, 21B, and 21C are display units 13 of the portable information device 17 at each device arrangement position. Is a received information reliability indicator displayed on the screen.

The desktop information device 60 on the transmitting side is a general personal computer, and is an optical communication connection device 6 for converting information to be transmitted into an optical signal and outputting (transmitting) the signal.
1 for wireless optical communication. Optical communication connection device 61
There is described a case where the optical information transmitted from the optical information has strong directivity and the optical information is transmitted to the propagation range indicated by the optical information propagation range 62 as a specific example of the propagation range.

In the example of FIG. 8, the portable information device 17 on the receiving side is arranged at three receiving device arrangement positions 63, 64, 65. In the device arrangement position 63, the entire portable information device 17 is located within the optical information propagation range 62 and is in a good communication state. In this device arrangement state, all levels of the received light intensity indicator 20A and the received information reliability indicator 21A are displayed. Next, device arrangement position 6
In 4, a part of the portable information device 17 on the receiving side is located within the optical information propagation range 62, and is in a communicable state to some extent. In this device arrangement state, the received light intensity indicator 20
In B, only one level is displayed, and in the received information reliability indicator 21B, two levels are displayed. Further, the device arrangement position 65 is a state in which the entirety of the receiving side information device 17 is located outside the optical information propagation range 62 and communication is difficult. In this device arrangement state, all levels of the received light intensity indicator 20C and the received information reliability indicator 21C are in a non-display state.

As described above, by simultaneously displaying the received light intensity indicator 20 and the received information reliability indicator 21 on the monitor unit 13, it is possible to determine in detail how much information communication is in the current device arrangement state. It becomes possible for the user to recognize. The user prepares the communication environment so as to perform the communication at a position where the display levels of the received light intensity indicator 20 and the received information reliability indicator 21 are both higher, so that the communication can be performed more easily than in the first embodiment or the second embodiment. The success rate can be improved.

In the third embodiment, an optical communication connection device 61 is connected to a personal computer as the tabletop information device 60 on the transmission side to perform transmission. However, the present invention is not limited to this. , Optical communication connection device 6
1 may be built-in or integrated externally.

In the third embodiment, the communication between the tabletop information device 60 and the portable information device 17 has been described. However, the present invention is similarly applied to the communication between the portable information devices in the same manner. It is clear that the effect is obtained.

As described above, three embodiments of the present invention have been described. However, when an arithmetic processing unit such as a CPU is mounted on the portable information device 17 on the receiving side, the reception information error detection unit 41 , 42 and the indicator level determination unit 32 can be realized by software processing.

In each of the embodiments of the present invention, a portable information device has been described as an example of the information device on the receiving side. Obviously, the arrangement of the optical communication connection device itself is intuitive, so that it is in the same state as the portable information device.

In each embodiment of the present invention, the monitor unit 1
Although 3 is used for level display, the present invention is not limited to this, and display devices such as LEDs and display devices such as meters can also be used. Further, as an embodiment, the expression form of the indicator 16 including the received light intensity indicator 20 and the reception information reliability indicator 21 is illustrated in FIG. 8, but the present invention is not limited to this expression form and is displayed in various expression forms. be able to.

In each of the embodiments shown in FIGS. 5 and 7, the optical communication connection unit 10 is replaced by a radio wave communication connection unit (transmission / reception unit), so that the error rate of the information received by the radio wave communication is reduced. Can be detected, the reliability of information transmission of the wireless communication line can be detected from the error rate, and can be displayed on the monitor unit 13 by the indicators 16 and 21.

[0066]

According to the present invention, in the wireless optical communication and the wireless radio communication in the information processing apparatus, the communication state on the wireless communication line is displayed so that the user can visually recognize the communication state. Since the securing is facilitated, it is easy to prevent the communication failure due to the communication line failure beforehand, and the user interface can be greatly improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of an information processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a display example of an indicator employed in a conventional mobile phone.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a specific example of a received light intensity detection unit in the information processing apparatus according to the present invention shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a specific example of an indicator level determining unit in the received light intensity detecting unit illustrated in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the information processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a specific example of a reception information reliability detection unit in the information processing apparatus illustrated in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a third embodiment of the information processing apparatus according to the present invention.

8 is a diagram showing a specific example of a display of a communication line status indicator in the information processing apparatus according to the present invention shown in FIG. 7;

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference numeral 10: optical communication connection unit, 11: received light intensity detection unit, 12:
Received information storage unit, 13 monitor unit, 16 indicator.

Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Agency reference number FI Technical display location H04B 10/22 H04L 12/28 (72) Inventor Toshihiro Matsuo 5-2-1, Josuihoncho, Kodaira-shi, Tokyo Hitachi, Ltd. Semiconductor Division (72) Inventor Toshiya Eguchi 292, Yoshida-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Hitachi Multimedia Systems Development Division (72) Inventor Tetsuya Suzuki Yoshida, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture No. 292, Hitachi Image Information System Co., Ltd.

Claims (12)

[Claims] An information processing apparatus having an optical communication connection unit for transmitting information by wireless optical communication, wherein a communication state of detecting a communication state of a communication line based on an optical signal received at the optical communication connection unit. An information processing apparatus, comprising: a detection unit; and a display unit that displays a communication state detected by the communication state detection unit. 2. The communication state detecting section according to claim 1, wherein said communication state detecting section includes light receiving intensity detecting means for detecting a light receiving intensity of a received optical signal, and said display section displays light receiving intensity information. Information processing device. 3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the optical communication connection section, the communication state detection section, and the display section are incorporated in a portable information device. 4. An information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said display unit displays information processing contents of said portable information device. 5. An information processing apparatus having a communication connection unit for transmitting information by wireless communication, a reception information reliability detection unit for detecting a reliability of a signal received by the communication connection unit, An information processing apparatus, comprising: a display unit for displaying reliability information detected by a reliability detection unit. 6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the communication connection unit uses light as a communication medium. 7. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the communication connection unit uses radio waves as a communication medium. 8. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said reception information reliability detection section performs test communication for receiving test information before performing user information communication, and analyzes the content of the received test information. An information processing apparatus characterized in that the reliability of information transmission is detected by the method. 9. The reception information reliability detection unit according to claim 5, wherein the reception information reliability detection unit analyzes the error detection code included in the transmission information during user information communication to determine the reliability of information transmission. An information processing device for detecting. 10. An information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said communication connection section, reception information reliability detection section, and display section are incorporated in a portable information device. 11. An information processing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said display section displays information processing contents of said portable information device. 12. An information processing apparatus comprising a communication connection unit for transmitting information by wireless communication, a reception intensity detection unit for detecting a reception intensity of a signal received at the communication connection unit, and the communication connection unit. An information processing apparatus, comprising: a reception information reliability detection unit configured to detect the reliability of a signal received by the control unit; and a display unit configured to display reception strength and reliability information detected by the detection units.