KR100330232B1 - Retractable antenna driving device and method for use in mobile telecommunication terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

An apparatus and method for controlling the driving of a retractable and retractable antenna of a mobile communication terminal are disclosed. The present invention proposes an antenna driving control apparatus which is installed outside of a mobile communication terminal provided with a retractable antenna and a retractable antenna, and has a sensing unit for detecting whether the withdrawal space of the antenna is secured. The received signal strength detector of the antenna driving control device detects the strength of the received signal. The motor driver generates forward and reverse drive signals. The motor is rotated forward and reverse according to the drive signal generated by the motor driver. The power transmission unit draws the antenna to the outside of the terminal by moving the antenna up and down according to the forward and reverse rotation of the motor, and introduces the drawn antenna into the inside of the terminal. The controller controls the forward driving force when the received signal strength detected by the received signal strength detector is less than a predetermined level while the call is formed, and when the drawing space of the antenna is secured by the detector. The antenna is drawn out to control the generator, and the motor driving unit generates the reverse rotation driving force when the call ends. The control unit, if the received signal strength detected by the reception signal strength detection unit for a predetermined time is less than the set level, and the detection unit detects that the extraction space of the antenna is not secured, a voice guidance message indicating this Can be sent to the outside or a warning message can be displayed.

Description

Retractable and extractable antenna driving control apparatus and method for mobile communication terminal {RETRACTABLE ANTENNA DRIVING DEVICE AND METHOD FOR USE IN MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATION TERMINAL}

The present invention relates to an antenna of a mobile communication terminal, and more particularly, to an apparatus and a method for controlling the driving of a retractable and retractable antenna.

Mobile communication terminals, such as typical cellular phones or Personal Communication Services (PCS) phones, employ fixed antennas. However, a so-called pullable and retractable antenna has been proposed to improve the sensitivity of transmission and reception even in a weak electric field having a weak reception signal. The retractable and withdrawable antenna refers to an antenna through which an antenna can be withdrawn from the main body of a mobile communication terminal (hereinafter referred to as a 'terminal') and with which the withdrawn antenna can be retracted into the main body of the terminal. Such a retractable and withdrawable antenna is intended to solve the shortcomings of the fixed antenna that not only has a poor call quality such as a tinting during a call in the weak field, but also severely disconnects the call.

The antennas that can be pulled out and pulled out at an early stage were manually operated antennas in which a user directly determines a weak electric field and directly draws the antenna from the main body of the terminal. However, such a manual pull-in and pull-out antenna has caused a lot of inconvenience for terminal users. For example, in a situation where both hands cannot be used, such as holding the handle of a moving bus with one hand and carrying an object such as a bag with the other hand, users can pull the antenna out of their mouth to pull the antenna out. In addition, this method is very inconvenient for users, there is a risk of damage to the antenna, it is not good hygiene.

What is proposed to solve this inconvenience is the so-called pull-in and retractable antenna of automatic operation. For example, Korean Patent Application No. 96-1409 (1996.1.31), entitled 'Automatic Switching Device for Antennas of Cellular Phones' may be used due to the movement of a user in a state in which a cellular phone is talking to a specific party through an arbitrary wireless channel. Disclosed is a technique for automatically switching the antenna according to the sensitivity of the received electric field when the change in the received electric field sensitivity is detected. Korean Patent Application No. 96-077450 (December 30, 1996) under the heading 'Method of Automatically Controlling the Cellular Antenna Length of Mobile Phone' discloses a technology for automatically controlling the antenna length by determining a busy state and a non-call state in a mobile phone. . Under Korean Patent Application No. 97-018674 (1997.5.15), titled 'The method of antenna control of a telephone and an automatic control antenna for performing the same', the built-in antenna is extended to the outside when an incoming signal is detected on the main body of the telephone. A technique is disclosed for making a handset available immediately after picking up the handset. Korean Patent Application No. 98-063283 (December 31, 1998), under the heading 'Automatic antenna lifting device for mobile communication terminal and its control method', a flexible rack connected to the antenna and the bottom of the antenna on the antenna guide formed inside the terminal body A technique is disclosed in which an antenna can be automatically raised and lowered from a terminal main body by providing a gear and rotating the driving motor forward and reverse according to the state of the terminal using signal generated corresponding to the state of use of the main body.

Such prior patents have the advantage of detecting convenience in use and reception field sensitivity of the terminal, and automatically drawing the antenna from the main body of the terminal according to the detection result to facilitate the convenience of use and the stability of the call. However, since the antenna is automatically drawn out from the main body of the terminal by detecting only a change in the use state of the terminal and the sensitivity of the received electric field, the antenna may be damaged. It is common for many users to carry a terminal in a bag or a handbag, and this situation does not guarantee the secured space for the antenna to be pulled out. The antenna will be broken because the antenna is pulled out without space being reserved.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an antenna driving control apparatus and method which considers whether to secure a drawing space when drawing a drawable and drawable antenna of a mobile communication terminal.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an antenna driving control apparatus and a method for preventing an antenna from being damaged as a drawable and drawable antenna of a mobile communication terminal is drawn out when a drawing space is not secured.

The present invention for achieving the above object is proposed an antenna drive control device which is installed on the outside of the mobile communication terminal is equipped with a retractable and withdrawable antenna, the sensing unit for detecting whether the withdrawal space of the antenna is secured do. The received signal strength detector of the antenna driving control device detects the strength of the received signal. The motor driver generates forward and reverse drive signals. The motor is rotated forward and reverse according to the drive signal generated by the motor driver. The power transmission unit draws the antenna to the outside of the terminal by moving the antenna up and down according to the forward and reverse rotation of the motor, and introduces the drawn antenna into the inside of the terminal. The controller controls the forward driving force when the received signal strength detected by the received signal strength detector is less than a predetermined level while the call is formed, and when the drawing space of the antenna is secured by the detector. The antenna is drawn out to control the generator, and the motor driving unit generates the reverse rotation driving force when the call ends.

The control unit, if the received signal strength detected by the reception signal strength detection unit for a predetermined time is less than the set level, and the detection unit detects that the extraction space of the antenna is not secured, a voice guidance message indicating this Can be sent to the outside or a warning message can be displayed.

1 is a view showing the configuration of the antenna drive control apparatus capable of retracting and withdrawing a mobile communication terminal according to the present invention.

2 is a view showing the appearance of a mobile communication terminal according to the present invention;

3 is a detailed configuration diagram of the motor driving unit shown in FIG. 1.

4 is a view illustrating a processing flow of an antenna driving control operation capable of pulling in and drawing out a mobile communication terminal according to the present invention;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION A detailed description of preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that reference numerals and like elements among the drawings are denoted by the same reference numerals and symbols as much as possible even though they are shown in different drawings. In the following description of the present invention, if it is determined that a detailed description of a related known function or configuration may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

1 is a view illustrating a configuration of an antenna driving control apparatus capable of retracting and withdrawing a mobile communication terminal according to the present invention. Such a device is characterized in that it comprises a sensor 190 for detecting whether the extraction space of the antenna is secured. The antenna driving control apparatus according to the present invention can be applied to all mobile communication terminals such as cellular phones and PCS phones, and can also be applied to a folder type terminal and a flip type terminal without being distinguished.

Referring to FIG. 1, the antenna 180 may be inserted into or pulled out of the main body of the terminal and may be drawn out and pulled out of the main body of the terminal. The sensor 190 is installed outside the terminal and detects whether the drawing space of the antenna 180 is secured. The sensor 190 is installed at the side of the antenna 180 as shown in FIG. 2 to detect whether the drawing space of the antenna 180 is secured. Since the antenna 180 is drawn out and drawn in the vertical direction, the sensor 190 is preferably installed on the side close to the antenna 180 if possible. As the sensor 190, an infrared sensor capable of detecting a drawing space (distance) of the antenna 180 may be used.

The reception signal detector 110 detects a received signal strength indicator (RSSI). The control unit 100 is less than or equal to a preset level (for example, -100 dB) for a predetermined time (for example, 1 second) detected by the reception signal detecting unit 110 in a state where a call is formed, and the antenna 180 is controlled by the sensor 190. When it is detected that the withdrawal space is secured, the driving of the motor driving unit 150 is controlled so that the antenna 180 can be withdrawn. That is, the controller 100 determines whether the withdrawal space is secured in advance when the antenna 180 is drawn out in the state in which the call is formed, and controls the antenna 180 to be drawn out only when it is determined that the withdrawal space is secured. To prevent. In addition, the controller 100 controls the driving of the motor driver 150 such that the antenna 180 is introduced into the main body of the terminal at the end of the call.

The motor driver 150 may be controlled by the controller 100 to generate a forward rotation drive force and a reverse rotation drive force. When the forward rotation driving force is generated by the motor driving unit 150, the motor 160 rotates forward, and when the reverse rotation driving force occurs, the motor 160 reversely rotates. The motor 160 is a bidirectional motor that rotates forward and reverse respectively according to the forward rotation driving force and the reverse rotation driving force generated by the motor driver 150. The power transmission unit 170 converts the rotational motion of the motor 160 into a linear motion to move the antenna 180 up and down. For example, the power transmission unit 170 is a rack gear that the upper end is connected to the lower end of the antenna 180, the drive gear for engaging the rack gear and the outer peripheral portion to raise or lower the rack gear, and is driven to rotate in accordance with the rotational force of the motor 160 It may be composed of a rotation gear and a power transmission belt for transmitting the rotational force of the rotation gear to the drive gear. That is, the power transmission unit 170 withdraws the antenna 180 from the main body of the terminal by moving the antenna 180 upward in response to the forward rotation of the motor 160, the antenna 180 in the downward direction in response to the reverse rotation of the motor 160 The antenna 180 drawn out by moving to the main body of the terminal is introduced.

The speaker 120 is controlled by the control unit 100 to transmit the voice of the other subscriber during the call to the outside, and also to send various messages generated for the call to the outside. Particularly, in the present invention, the speaker 120 indicates that the received signal strength detected by the received signal strength detector 110 is less than or equal to the set level during the set time and the sensor 190 detects that the drawing space of the antenna 180 is not secured. Send voice guidance message to outside.

The display unit 130 is controlled by the controller 100 to display an operation state of the terminal to the user. The display unit 130 includes a liquid crystal display (LCD) and a light emitting diode (LED). The LCD of the display unit 130 may display a level of a received signal strength, a battery charge level, a date and time, and a phone number input by a user. The LED of the display unit 130 is turned on when a call is received or a call message is transmitted. In particular, in the present invention, the display unit 130 indicates that the received signal strength detected by the received signal strength detector 110 is less than or equal to the set level for a predetermined time, and when the drawing space of the antenna 180 is detected by the sensor 190 as not being secured. Displays a warning message that can be displayed.

The memory 140 stores various program data and information necessary for the operation of the terminal, and includes a ROM (Read Only Memory) and a RAM (Random Access Memory). In the present invention, the memory 140 stores a program according to a processing flow as shown in FIG. 4, a voice guide message to be transmitted to the speaker 120, and a warning message to be displayed on the display unit 130.

2 is a view showing the appearance of a mobile communication terminal according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, a retractable antenna 180 is installed at an upper end of a main body of a terminal, and a sensor 190 for detecting a drawing space of the antenna 180 is installed at a left side of the antenna 180. In the figure, reference numerals 11 and 12 denote outer housings constituting the main body of the terminal, reference numeral 120 denotes a speaker, and reference numeral 130 denotes a display portion.

3 is a detailed configuration diagram of the motor driving unit 150 shown in FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 3, the motor driver 150 includes a forward rotation drive signal generator 152 and a reverse rotation drive signal generator 154. The driving signal generators 152 and 154 may be implemented as a switch, and the controller 100 may be implemented as a kernel driving the switch. The control unit 100 inputs and monitors the detection result from the reception signal strength detection unit 110 in the state where a call is formed, and secures the withdrawal space of the antenna 180 from the detection result of the sensor 190 when the reception signal below the set level is maintained for a predetermined time. Check if it is When the reception signal below the setting level is continuously received for a predetermined time in the state where a call is formed, the control unit 100 outputs a signal of the 'high (H)' level to the general purpose input output (GPIO) port. In response to the 'high' level signal, the VCC of the forward rotation drive signal generator 152 and the GND of the reverse rotation drive signal generator 154 are connected to generate a forward rotation drive signal. On the other hand, when a received signal below the set level is not continuously received for a set time in a state in which a call is formed, that is, when a signal higher than the set level is received or a signal higher than the set level is received within the set time, the control unit 100 receives the GPIO. Outputs a low level signal to the port. In response to the 'low' level signal, the GND of the forward rotation drive signal generator 152 and the VCC of the reverse drive signal generator 154 are connected to generate a reverse drive signal.

The motor 160 of FIG. 1 rotates forward in response to the forward rotation drive signal and reversely rotates in response to the reverse rotation drive signal. The power transmission unit 170 draws the antenna 180 from the main body of the terminal in response to the forward rotation of the motor 160, and introduces the antenna 180 drawn out in response to the reverse rotation of the motor 160 into the main body of the terminal.

4 is a diagram illustrating a processing flow of an antenna driving control operation capable of pulling in and drawing out a mobile communication terminal according to the present invention. The program according to the processing flow is stored in the memory 140 shown in FIG. 1, and the control unit 100 performs an operation according to the processing flow.

The controller 100 of FIG. 1 determines whether a call is formed in step 401. In this case, the call is formed when a call is made to the user's terminal or when the other party's phone is called by pressing the other party's phone number, such as when the user calls another user. When it is determined that the call is formed, the controller 100 detects the received signal strength RSSI from the result detected by the received signal strength detector 110. In this case, when it is determined in step 403 that the detected RSSI is less than or equal to the predetermined level, the control unit 100 determines whether the RSSI of the predetermined level or less has elapsed in step 404. If it is determined that the RSSI below the set level lasts for the set time, the controller 100 determines whether the drawable space of the antenna 180 is secured using the output of the sensor 190 in step 405.

When it is determined that the drawable space of the antenna 180 is secured, the control unit 100 controls the motor driving unit 150 to generate a forward rotation drive signal in step 407 to allow the motor 160 to forward drive. In response to the forward rotation driving of the motor 160, the power transmission unit 170 moves the antenna 180 upward to draw the antenna 180 from the main body of the terminal. After the antenna 180 is withdrawn, a call is made in step 408. As described above, since the antenna 180 is drawn out from the weak electric field having the RSSI less than or equal to the set level for the set time, the call may be performed while the call transmission / reception sensitivity is guaranteed. In this case, even when the antenna 180 is drawn out, the extraction space of the antenna 180 is secured, thereby preventing damage to the antenna 180.

On the other hand, even if the RSSI is less than the set level for the set time, the control unit 100 is 406 in a situation where the withdrawal space of the antenna 180 is not secured, i.e., when a call is received while the weak electric field and the terminal are placed in a bag or a handbag. In step, the voice guidance message is sent to the speaker 120, and a warning message is displayed on the display unit 130. From the voice guidance message or the warning message, the user can know that a call has been made. Therefore, the user can take the terminal out of the bag or handbag, etc. to answer the call.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step 409 that the call has ended, the control unit 100 controls the motor driving unit 150 in step 410 to generate a reverse rotation driving signal to allow the motor 160 to reverse rotation driving. In response to the reverse rotation driving of the motor 160, the power transmission unit 170 moves the antenna 180 drawn out from the main body of the terminal downward to draw the antenna 180 into the main body of the terminal. In a state where the antenna 180 is drawn from the main body of the terminal, the controller 100 controls the terminal to operate in a standby mode in step 411. Herein, the control of the control unit 100 to operate the terminal in the standby mode means a state in which a call can be received even if the call mode is not a call mode.

In the operation according to the present invention as described above, the antenna is automatically drawn from the main body of the terminal in the case of a weak electric field in which a reception signal of a predetermined level or less is received for a predetermined time.

As described above, the present invention allows the antenna to be automatically withdrawn from the main body of the terminal in a weak electric field in which a signal of a predetermined level or less is received for a predetermined time, and also confirms whether the antenna withdrawal space is secured in advance when the antenna is withdrawn. By doing so, there is an advantage that it is possible to ensure the convenience of the user and the stability of the call, and also has the advantage of preventing the damage of the antenna.

Claims (8)

In the antenna drive control apparatus of a mobile communication terminal, Retractable and retractable antenna, A detector installed outside the terminal and configured to detect whether a drawing space of the antenna is secured; A received signal strength detector for detecting the strength of the received signal; A motor driver for generating forward and reverse rotation drive signals; A motor which rotates forward and reverse according to a driving signal generated by the motor driver; A power transmission unit which draws the antenna to the outside of the terminal by moving the antenna up and down according to the forward and reverse rotation of the motor, and introduces the drawn antenna into the inside of the terminal; When the received signal strength detected by the received signal strength detector in the state that the call is formed is less than a predetermined level, and the detection unit is detected that the extraction space of the antenna is secured so that the motor driving unit generates a forward rotational driving force And controlling the controller to draw out the antenna, and to control the motor driver to generate a reverse rotation driving force when the call ends. The voice of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to generate a voice signal when the received signal strength detected by the received signal strength detector is less than or equal to the predetermined level, and the drawing unit detects that the drawing space of the antenna is not secured. Antenna drive control device characterized in that to transmit a guide message to the outside. The display apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to indicate when the received signal strength detected by the received signal strength detector is less than or equal to the predetermined level and the drawing unit detects that the drawing space of the antenna is not secured. An antenna drive control device, characterized in that for outputting a warning message. The method of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to detect that the reception signal strength detected by the reception signal strength detection unit is less than or equal to the predetermined level for a preset time, and that the drawing space of the antenna is not secured by the detection unit. And the motor driving unit controls the motor driving unit to generate a forward rotation driving signal. To detect the antenna that can be pulled out and pulled by the forward and reverse rotation of the motor, the motor driving unit generating the forward and reverse rotation driving signals for the forward and reverse rotation of the motor, and the drawable space of the antenna. In the antenna driving control method of a mobile communication terminal comprising a sensing unit installed, (A) detecting the strength of the received signal in the state where a call is formed; (B) determining whether an intensity of the detected received signal is equal to or less than a preset level; (C) detecting whether the drawing space of the antenna is secured by the detection unit when the detected intensity of the received signal is less than or equal to the set level; (D) controlling the motor driving unit so that the motor rotates forward and draws the antenna out of the terminal when the drawing space of the antenna is secured; And (e) controlling the motor driving unit so that the motor rotates in reverse when the call ends so that the antenna is drawn in from the outside of the terminal. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the step (c) detects whether the drawing space of the antenna is secured by the detection unit when the detected intensity of the received signal is less than or equal to the predetermined level for a preset time. Antenna drive control method. The antenna driving control method of claim 5, further comprising transmitting a voice guidance message indicating when the drawing space of the antenna is not secured to the outside. 6. The method of claim 5, further comprising the step of outputting a displayable warning message indicating that the drawing space of the antenna is not secured.