JPH11275637A - Portable terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a portable terminal, to which a shared device can be set based on the within-wireless-range notices from other two terminals before entering a speaking state and such a speaking system that consumes relatively small current can be set. SOLUTION: A portable terminal is provided with an inputting means 1 which inputs set contents, a terminal control means 2 which controls the terminal, a corresponding means which corresponds with partners, a within-wireless- range discriminating means 4, which discriminates whether or not the partners are within the wireless range, an out-of and within-wireless-range informing means 5, a shared device setting means 6 which sets a shared device that is a terminal for mixing the contents of speeches, and a communication system setting means 7 which is able to set communication system such that consumes relatively small current.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a technique for controlling a portable terminal having a function of allowing a plurality of terminals to talk at the same time.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a portable terminal is used for two-way communication. However, sometimes it is desirable to use it between three parties. For example, when persons using terminals B and C are performing position adjustment and the like at a construction site or the like, the person using terminal A gives an appropriate instruction to make the adjustment more efficient. A three-way call is very convenient when giving to a person using B or terminal C.

[0003] Even in the case of such a three-way call, the situation is divided according to the distance between the terminals. Terminal A and terminal B are within range, terminal A and terminal C are within range, and terminal B and terminal C are also within range. The situation is different, for example, when the terminal C is within the service area, but the terminal B and the terminal C are out of the service area. In general, the situation changes with time.

A portable terminal is provided with input means 1, terminal control means 2, communication means 3 and the like as shown in FIG. To start a call, a telephone number of a call destination is inputted by the input means 1, and when a call is inputted, the terminal control means 2 controls the communication means 3 to call, answer, and use a channel for the call. In addition, the communication is started by controlling the time slot and the like, and the communication is disconnected by the end command.

Conventionally, as a three-party communication method, there is an example of a method in which a shared device uses a plurality of transmission time slots and a plurality of reception time slots in a time division two-way transmission system.
FIG. 16 shows a schematic time slot chart as the communication method 4. Here, terminals A, B and C are shown. The terminal A is a terminal that plays a role of mixing the contents of a call, and is in a service area with the terminals B and C, and the terminal B is in a service area with the terminal C. In the figure,
The transmission slots are indicated by time slots 1 to 4, and the reception slots are indicated by time slots 5 to 8. Here, the reception time slot 5 of the terminal A and the transmission time slot 1 of the terminals B and C are synchronized in advance.

The terminal A talks (transmits and receives) with the terminal B using the time slot 1 and the time slot 5, and the terminal C
Means a call using another time slot 3 and time slot 7. At this time, in the terminal A, in the transmission time slot 1 for the terminal B, the reception content from the terminal C is mixed with, for example, a digital signal and transmitted, and in the transmission time slot 3 for the terminal C, the reception content from the terminal B is transmitted. Mix and send. In this way, the terminal B can receive the terminal C
In terminal C, terminal C can hear the transmission contents of terminal B.

However, when a plurality of transmission / reception slots are used, the current consumption increases almost in proportion, and the use time is greatly affected. For example, when two transmission / reception slots are used, the usage time is reduced to approximately one half, and when four transmission / reception slots are used, the usage time is reduced to approximately one quarter. In addition, when a plurality of transmission slots are used, the amount of heat generated by the transmission unit increases, and heat dissipation measures are required. If the measures are not sufficient, reliability may be deteriorated.

On the other hand, when a three-party call is attempted using only one transmission slot, if the terminals are within a short distance of each other, the carrier sense function operates and transmission becomes impossible.

[0009]

According to a unique communication method, the load on the battery becomes too large and the use time becomes extremely short. In some cases, interpersonal calls could not be made.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and provides a portable terminal capable of selecting an optimum communication method in accordance with a variation in the distance between terminals, particularly when the distance between the terminals varies. The purpose is to:

A first aspect of the present invention is a portable terminal capable of setting a shared device and setting a system with relatively low current consumption as an appropriate communication system based on a notification of a plurality of other terminals within a communication area before entering a communication state. The purpose is to provide.

[0012] According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to obtain a range notification of a plurality of other moving terminals even after a call is started,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a portable terminal capable of switching to an optimal communication method based on the communication method.

A third object of the present invention is to provide a portable terminal capable of selecting or switching the number of time slots used in a time-division bidirectional transmission system before or during a call.

A fourth object of the present invention is to provide a portable terminal capable of selecting or switching the number of channels used in the frequency division two-way transmission system before or during a call.

[0015]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a portable terminal for inputting setting contents, terminal control means for controlling the terminal, and for communicating with a communication partner. Communication means, service area search means for searching whether each communication partner is in or out of service area, service area / out-of-service notification means, and common device setting means for setting a common device which is a terminal serving to mix the contents of a call And a communication method setting unit that can set a communication method with relatively low power consumption.

In the portable terminal according to the second aspect of the present invention, it is determined whether each of the calling parties is in range or out of range before the start of the call, and also after the start of the call, whether each of the moving parties is in range or out of range. The in-area search means and the in-area / out-of-area notification means are made to function, and the communication method between the shared device and the dedicated device of the other party can be switched.

In the portable terminal according to the third invention, in the time-division bidirectional transmission system, the duplexer can select or switch the number of transmission time slots and reception time slots to be used.

In a portable terminal according to a fourth aspect of the invention, in the frequency division two-way transmission system, the duplexer is capable of selecting or switching the number of transmission channels and reception channels to be used.

[0019]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiment 1 FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram for explaining the operation of the embodiment of the portable terminal. FIG.
1, 1 is an input means, 2 is a terminal control means, 3 is a communication means, 4 is an area search means, 5 is an area notification means, 6 is a shared device setting means, and 7 is a communication method setting means.

The input means 1 is composed of numeric keys, dedicated keys, and the like, and is used for inputting setting contents for performing various settings. The terminal control means 2 is capable of controlling the entire portable terminal. For example, the terminal control means 2 receives an input signal from the input means 1, controls the communication means 3, performs an area search means 4, an area notification means 5, and a common device setting means. 6, control for the communication system setting means 7 can be performed.

The communication means 3 is communication means necessary for the portable terminal, and includes a battery and the like in addition to an antenna, a high-frequency circuit, and the like. The area search means 4 calls a partner terminal to be called and obtains a response. The in-range notification means 5 is for transmitting the result of the in-range search means 4 to a predetermined terminal, and for determining the in-range notification from the partner terminal when an in-range search request is issued. The common device setting means 6 sets which terminal is to be assigned as a common device according to the in-service and out-of-service conditions of each terminal, and the communication method setting means 7 can set a communication method with low power consumption.

FIG. 2 is an operation flow of the whole call for explaining the embodiment. In the figure, step S1 is the start of the flow, step S2 is the call mode selection, step S3 is the two-party call mode, step S4 is the three-party call mode 1, step S5 is the three-party call mode 2, step S6 is the normal call mode,
Steps S7 and S8 are a three-way communication system, and steps S9 to S11 are the end of the flow.

In FIG. 2, when a call start step S1 starts, a call mode is selected in a call mode selection step S2. The communication modes include a step S3: two-party communication mode, a step S4: a three-party communication mode, and a step S5: a three-party communication mode 2. Step S3: The two-party communication mode is a conventional two-way telephone communication mode. Step S4: In the three-way call mode 1, one terminal serving as a shared device is in range of the other two terminals, but the other two terminals are out of range, and the other two terminals are out of range. It is in a state where it is not possible to make a direct call between the two terminals. Step S5: The three-way communication mode 2 is a state in which the three parties are within range of each other and any two parties can directly communicate. In each communication mode, the communication is performed according to each communication method, and the call is terminated by a disconnection instruction. The details of the call form selection are shown below.

FIG. 3 is a part of a flow chart for selecting a communication mode. In the figure, step S200 is an area search 1 for searching whether or not the terminal B and the terminal C are within the area based on the terminal A, and step S210 is only the terminal B which is one of the results of the step S200: area search 1. Step S212 indicates that the terminal C is within the service area, and step S230 indicates that only the terminal C which is one of the results of the area search 1 is within the service area. Step S2
50 indicates that both the terminal B and the terminal C, which are one of the results of the step S200: area search 1, are within the area, step S260 indicates that continuation of step c in FIG. 7 is performed, and step S280 indicates step d in FIG. The step S300 indicates that both the terminal B and the terminal C are out of the service area, and the step S301 indicates that the call is not possible.

In FIG. 3, there are four types of results as a result of step S200: area search 1, and only terminal B has area S21.
0, only the terminal C is in the service area S230, all of the terminals B and C are in the service area S250, and both of the terminals B and C are in the out-of-service area S300.

In the area S210 where only the terminal B is located, the next flow follows step S212 in FIG. In the area S230 where only the terminal C is located, the next flow continues to step S232 of FIG. In both the terminal B and the terminal C, in the service area S250, the next flow may be continued to step S261 in FIG. 7 or may be continued to step S281 in FIG. Both terminal B and terminal C are out of service S3
At 00, the call is disabled S301, indicating that a call cannot be made as it is.

FIG. 4 shows another part of the communication mode selection flow. In the figure, step S213 is an area search 2 for searching whether the terminal C is within the service area based on the terminal B, and step S2.
14 is step S213: out-of-service notification that terminal B notifies terminal A when the result of in-service search 2 is out of service, step S2
15 is a terminal A and a terminal B that can make a call as a result.
Shows a two-party communication mode performed between the terminal B and step S224. In step S224, step S213: a service area notification in which the terminal B notifies the terminal A when the result of the service area search 2 is within the service area. 3 shows a three-way call mode 1 in which terminal B is used as a shared device.

Step S233 is an area search 2 for searching whether the terminal B is within the service area based on the terminal C.
234 is a step S233: out-of-service notification that the terminal C notifies the terminal A when the result of the in-service search 2 is out of the service area, step S
Reference numeral 235 denotes a two-party call mode between the terminal A and the terminal C that can make a call as a result, and a step S244.
In step S233, the terminal C notifies the terminal A when the result of the in-zone search 2 is within the service area. In step S245, a three-party communication mode 1 in which the terminal C capable of making a call is used as a shared device is shown.

In FIG. 4, if the result of step S213 in-service search 2 is out-of-service notification S214, a two-party communication mode is performed between terminal A and terminal B, which is shown in FIG. In this case, a three-party communication mode 1 in which the terminal B is a shared device is shown in FIG. Similarly, step S2
33: If the result of the area search 2 is the out-of-area notification S234,
FIG. 7 shows a two-party communication mode between the terminal A and the terminal C. In the case of the in-range notification S244, a three-party communication mode 1 using the terminal C as a shared device is shown in FIG. Was.

FIG. 5 shows a two-party communication mode, in which terminal A and terminal B are within a service area and a normal telephone call is possible. Terminal C is out of range with terminal A, and is also out of range with terminal B, and cannot communicate with any terminal.

FIG. 6 shows a three-party call mode 1, in which terminal A is a dedicated device 1, terminal B is a shared device, and terminal C is a dedicated device 2. Terminal B (shared device) is within range of terminal A (dedicated device 1) and terminal C (dedicated device 2), and is capable of talking. However, terminal A (dedicated device 1) and terminal C (dedicated device 2) are out of the service area and cannot communicate.

FIG. 7 shows a two-party communication mode, in which terminal A and terminal C are within range and normal communication is possible. Terminal B is out of range with terminal A, and is also out of range with terminal C, and cannot talk to any terminal.

FIG. 8 shows a three-party call mode 1, in which terminal A is a dedicated device, terminal B is a dedicated device, and terminal C is a shared device. Terminal C (shared device) is within range of terminal A (dedicated device 1) and terminal B (dedicated device 2), and is capable of talking. However, the terminal A (dedicated device 1) and the terminal B (dedicated device 2) are out of service area and cannot communicate.

FIG. 9 is a final explanatory diagram of the communication mode selection flow. In the figure, step S262 is an area search 2 for searching whether the terminal C is within the service area based on the terminal B, and step S263 is step S262: out of the service area where the terminal B notifies the terminal A when the result of the area search 2 is out of the area. Notification, step S264 shows a three-way call form 1 in which terminal A, which is capable of making a call as a result, is a shared device, and step S273 is step S262: when the result of area search 2 is within the area, terminal B becomes terminal A. The in-range notification to be notified, step S274, shows a three-way communication mode 2 in which all three parties are in range and can make a call at this time.

Step S282 is an area search 2 for searching whether or not the terminal B is within the service area based on the terminal C.
283 is step S282: out-of-service notification that terminal C notifies terminal A when the result of in-service search 2 is out of service, step S
Reference numeral 284 denotes a three-party communication mode 1 in which the terminal A, which is capable of making a call as a result, is a shared device, and step S293 is step S282: the area in which the terminal C notifies the terminal A when the result of the area search 2 is in the area. The notification, step S294, shows a three-party call form 2 in which all three parties are in range as a result, and a call is possible at this time.

In FIG. 9, if the result of step S262 in-service search 2 is out-of-service notification S263, a three-party communication mode 1 using terminal A as a shared device is shown in FIG. Both are within the service area, and a three-way communication mode 2 performed at this time is shown in FIG. Similarly, step S2
82: When the result of the in-service area search 2 is the out-of-service notification S283,
FIG. 10 shows a three-party call mode 1 in which the terminal A is a shared device, and FIG. 11 shows a three-party call mode 2 to be performed at this time in the case of the in-range notification S293 when all three parties are in range.

FIG. 10 shows a three-party communication mode 1, in which terminal A is a shared device, terminal B is a dedicated device, and terminal C is a dedicated device 2. Terminal A (shared device) is within range of terminal B (dedicated device 1) and terminal C (dedicated device 2), and can communicate with each other. However, the terminal B (dedicated device 1) and the terminal C (dedicated device 2) are out of the service area and cannot communicate.

FIG. 11 shows a three-way call mode 2, in which terminals A,
The terminal B and the terminal C are within a service area of each other and can communicate with each other.

Next, a three-party communication system performed between terminals using the time division two-way transmission system will be described. FIG. 12 shows a schematic time slot chart as the communication method 1. This is similar to that shown in FIG. 16, but
In order to match the description of the embodiment of the three-party call, the terminal A is described as a shared device, the terminal B as a dedicated device 1, and the terminal C as a dedicated device 2. The terminal A (shared device) is a terminal that plays a role of mixing the contents of a call, and is in a service area with the terminal B (dedicated device 1) and the terminal C (dedicated device 2). Here, terminal A (shared device) and terminal B (dedicated device 1) are within range, terminal A (shared device) and terminal C (dedicated device 2) are within range, and terminal B (dedicated device 1) and terminal C (dedicated device 1) Machine 2) is also within range.

In the figure, the transmission slots are time slots 1 to
The reception slot is indicated by time slot 4 and the reception slot is indicated by time slot 5. Here, terminal A
(Shared device) reception time slot 5 and terminal B (dedicated device 1) and transmission time slot 1 of terminal C (dedicated device 2)
Is synchronized in advance.

Terminal A (shared device) communicates (transmits and receives) with terminal B (dedicated device 1) using time slot 1 and time slot 5, and terminal C (dedicated device 2) communicates with other time slots. A call is made using 3 and time slot 7. At this time, in the transmission time slot 1 of the terminal A (shared device), the content received from the terminal C (dedicated device 2) is mixed with, for example, a digital signal, and in the transmission time slot 3 for the terminal C (dedicated device 2), B (dedicated machine 1) is transmitted after mixing the received contents. In this way, terminal B (dedicated device 1) can hear the transmission content of terminal C (dedicated device 2), and terminal C (dedicated device 2) can hear the transmission content of terminal B (dedicated device 1). .

However, the use of a plurality of transmission slots and reception slots increases the current consumption and the amount of heat generated by the transmission unit. In order to solve this problem, the solution is to use the number of transmission or reception slots by switching the communication method according to the state between terminals.

FIG. 13 shows a communication system 2 in which two reception slots are used but one transmission slot is used in order to reduce the current consumption of the shared device. In the figure, a terminal A (shared device) communicates (transmits and receives) with a terminal B (dedicated device 1) using a time slot 2 and a time slot 5, and a terminal C.
(Dedicated device 2) talks using the same transmission time slot 2 and a different reception time slot 7. At this time, in the transmission time slot 2 of the terminal A (shared device), the contents received from the terminal B (dedicated device 1) and the terminal C (dedicated device 2) are mixed by, for example, a digital signal and transmitted. In this way, the transmission content of terminal C (dedicated device 2) is transmitted from terminal B (dedicated device 1) to terminal B (dedicated device 1).
(Dedicated device 1) You can listen to the transmission contents.

FIG. 14 shows a description of the communication system 3 when both the transmission slot and the reception slot are set to one in order to further reduce the current consumption of the shared device. In the figure, terminal A (shared device) communicates (transmits and receives) with terminal B (dedicated device 1) using time slot 2 and time slot 6,
The terminal C (dedicated device 2) communicates using the same transmission time slot 2 and the same reception time slot 6. At this time, in the transmission time slot 2 of the terminal A (shared device), the contents received from the terminal B (dedicated device 1) and the terminal C (dedicated device 2) are mixed by, for example, a digital signal and transmitted.
In this way, the terminal B (the special-purpose device 1) transmits
When the transmission content of (dedicated device 2) is terminal C (dedicated device 2),
It is possible to hear the transmission content of terminal B (dedicated device 1). However, in terminal B (dedicated device 1) and terminal C (dedicated device 2),
Terminal B (dedicated device 1) and terminal C (dedicated device 2) talk every other frame. One frame is one cycle composed of eight time slots.

Here, when comparing the communication methods, first, the three-way communication can be performed with the least current consumption in the communication method 3, but the terminal B (dedicated device 1) and the terminal C (dedicated device 2) Since the transmission slots are the same, it is necessary to prevent the transmission from being disabled by the operation of the carrier sense function. For this reason, the terminal to be connected later is required to not receive the transmission signal of the preceding call, which is a condition of the three-party call mode 1 shown in FIG. 10 (FIG. 6 or FIG. 8). Can only be used if That is, in FIG. 10, terminal B (dedicated device 1) and terminal C
(Dedicated machine 2) is out of the service area, and cannot be used when the distance is short and the service area is in the service area. Further, since the number of frames used for the call is reduced by half, the sound quality of the call may be slightly deteriorated.

On the other hand, the communication system 2 uses different transmission slots for the terminal B (dedicated device 1) and the terminal C (dedicated device 2). Therefore, there is no possibility that the transmission cannot be performed by the carrier sense function regardless of the distance between each other. Also, since the frames used are not thinned, there is no deterioration in sound quality.

However, since two reception slots of the terminal A (shared device) are used, the current consumption is larger than that of the communication system 3. Further, since the transmission slot of the terminal A (shared device) is one, it is not possible to control the transmission to the terminal B (dedicated device 1) or the terminal C (dedicated device 2) with individual contents. For example, it is not possible to individually control whether or not to mix a received signal from a dedicated device.

On the other hand, in the communication system 1, the transmission slot and the reception slot of the terminal A (shared device) are separately provided in the terminal B (dedicated device 1) and the terminal C (dedicated device 2). For this reason, it is possible to perform transmission control on the terminal B (dedicated device 1) or the terminal C (dedicated device 2) with individual contents. For example, it is possible to cope with the case where it is desired to individually control whether or not to mix a reception signal from a dedicated device.
However, the magnitude of the current consumption is the largest.

Although the time-division bidirectional transmission system has been described above, the frequency-division bidirectional transmission system can be similarly considered. This can be considered by replacing a time slot in the time-division bidirectional transmission method with a channel in the frequency-division bidirectional transmission method. That is, the transmission time slot may be replaced with a transmission channel, the reception time slot may be replaced with a reception channel, and the time slot used in each communication scheme may be replaced with a channel using the same.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, the state between the terminals can be grasped based on the area notification of the other two terminals before entering the call state, and the setting of the shared device is performed. It is possible to provide a portable terminal capable of setting a communication method with relatively low current consumption among communication methods such as the communication methods 1 to 3 and the like.

Further, it is possible to provide a portable terminal capable of obtaining a range notification of the other two moving terminals even after the start of a call and switching to a call system with relatively low current consumption based on the notification. Can be.

Further, it is possible to provide a portable terminal capable of selecting or switching the number of time slots used in the time-division bidirectional transmission system before or during a call.

Further, it is possible to provide a portable terminal capable of selecting or switching the number of channels used in the frequency division two-way transmission system before or during a call.

[0054]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to grasp the state between the terminals based on the in-range notification of a plurality of other terminals before entering a call state. It is possible to provide a mobile terminal capable of setting a communication method with a small number of connections.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, a portable terminal capable of obtaining a range notification of a plurality of moving terminals even after the start of a call and capable of switching to a communication system with low current consumption based on the notification. Can be provided.

According to the third invention, it is possible to provide a portable terminal capable of selecting or switching the number of time slots used in the time division bidirectional transmission system.

According to the fourth aspect, it is possible to provide a portable terminal capable of selecting or switching the number of channels used in the frequency division two-way transmission system.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram illustrating an operation of a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an operation flowchart for explaining an overall flow of a call of the mobile terminal according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a part of an operation flowchart for explaining a flow of selecting a communication mode according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is another part of an operation flowchart for explaining the flow of selecting a communication mode according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram for explaining a situation between terminals in a two-party call mode according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram for explaining a state between terminals in a three-party call mode 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram for explaining a situation between terminals in a two-party call mode according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram for explaining a state between terminals in a three-party call mode 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 shows the last explanation of the operation flow chart for explaining the flow of the call mode selection according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram for explaining a state between terminals in a three-party call mode 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a configuration diagram for explaining a state between terminals in a three-way call mode 2 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a time slot chart for explaining the operation of the communication system 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a time slot chart for explaining the operation of the communication system 2 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a time slot chart for explaining the operation of communication system 3 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a configuration diagram for explaining the operation of a conventional mobile terminal.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a time slot chart for explaining an operation of a communication method of a conventional portable terminal.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 input means, 2 terminal control means, 3 communication means, 4
Area search means, area notification means, 6 common device setting means, 7 communication method setting means.

Claims (4)

[Claims] An input means for inputting setting contents,
Terminal control means for controlling the terminal, communication means for performing communication with the communication partner, service area search means for searching whether each communication partner is in or out of service, service area / out-of-service notification means, A portable terminal comprising: a shared device setting unit that sets a shared device that is a terminal that plays a role of mixing call contents; and a communication system setting unit that can set a communication system with relatively low power consumption. 2. An area search means for searching whether each of the calling parties is in range or out of range before starting the call, and searching for whether each of the moving parties is in or out of range even after starting the call. 2. The portable terminal according to claim 1, wherein the portable terminal is configured to function as a notifying unit so as to be able to switch a communication method between the shared device and a dedicated device of a communication partner. 3. The portable terminal according to claim 1, wherein in the time-division bidirectional transmission system, the shared device can select or switch the number of transmission time slots and reception time slots to be used. 4. In the frequency division two-way transmission system, the duplexer can select or switch the number of transmission channels and reception channels to be used.
Mobile terminal described in.