KR20050011048A - Mobile communication terminal with audio volume control facility - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A mobile communication terminal having a volume control function is provided to enable a user to easily change transmission volume according to a request of the other person or due to bad communication circumstances by controlling a transmission volume gain as well as a reception volume gain at a transmitting side and to stabilize transmission volume by returning a transmission volume gain value to the original gain value when a call is terminated. CONSTITUTION: An operating unit(100) inputs operational signals of a user. A communication unit(200) transmits and receives voice signals. A codec(400) restores compressed voice signals received through the communication unit(200) to output the restored voice signals as receiving sounds to a speaker(600) and compresses transmission voice signals inputted through a microphone(700) to transmit the converted transmission voice signals to the communication unit(200). A control unit(300) includes a receiving volume control part(310) controlling receiving volume according to the operational signals of the operating unit(100), and a transmission volume control part(320) controlling transmission volume transmitted through the communication unit(200). The transmission volume control part(320) returns a transmission volume gain value set by the user to a basic value when a voice call is terminated.

Description

Mobile communication terminal with volume control function

The present invention relates to a mobile communication terminal, and more particularly, to a volume control technology of a mobile communication terminal.

BACKGROUND ART Conventionally, a technology for adjusting a sign language volume of a mobile communication terminal is known. The user can adjust the handset by using the volume control button on the side of the terminal when the handset is not small during a call.

On the other hand, the call sound that is heard by the other party has been adjusted and applied at the time of manufacturing the terminal. As a result, some terminals may be out of balance between the volume of the call and tone. In other words, although the other party's sign language sounds well, the other party's voice is less likely to be heard. This problem may occur not only when the terminal is set incorrectly, but also when the transmission quality of the calling party is poor due to the imbalance of the wireless communication environment.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a mobile communication terminal that can increase the ease of use by adjusting the volume of the call sent to the other party as well as the sign language volume during the voice call. There is this.

Furthermore, another object of the present invention is to stabilize the talk volume by causing the adjustment function of the talk volume to be changed around the default value.

1 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of a mobile communication terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a process of adjusting a call volume gain of a mobile communication terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

100: operation unit 200: communication unit

300: control unit 310: sign language volume control unit

320: talk volume control unit 400: codec

500, 510: variable gain amplifier 600: speaker

700: microphone

Mobile communication terminal according to an aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object comprises a call volume control unit for adjusting the volume of the call transmitted through the communication unit according to the user's operation signal.

Accordingly, the mobile communication terminal according to the present invention can adjust not only the volume of the call but also the volume of the call, so that there is an advantage that it can be considered so as not to inconvenience the other party even when there is a lot of noise in the surroundings or when the transmission environment is poor.

Furthermore, the mobile communication terminal according to an additional aspect of the present invention is characterized by returning the call volume gain value set by the user to the default value at the end of the voice call.

According to this aspect, the mobile communication terminal according to the present invention does not apply a gain value temporarily set during a call, so that it is possible to make a stable call by fully utilizing the accuracy of the default value set by the original manufacturer.

These and further aspects of the present invention will become more apparent through the preferred embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail to enable those skilled in the art to easily understand and reproduce the present invention.

1 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of a mobile communication terminal according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. As shown, the mobile communication terminal according to the present invention includes a control unit 100 for inputting a user's operation signal, a communication unit 200 for transmitting and receiving a voice signal through a call formed according to the operation signal of the operation unit 100, The audio signal received through the communication unit 200 is decoded into an analog signal and output to the speaker 600, and the voice signal input through the microphone 700 is converted into a digital signal to output to the communication unit 200 The control unit 300 collectively controls the system according to a codec 400 and an operation signal or an external event of the operation unit 100.

The communication unit 200 transmits and receives a voice and data signal with the base station. The codec 400 compresses or restores a voice signal transmitted and received through the communication unit 200. The controller 300 generally controls the terminal according to an operation signal or an external event of the operation unit 100. In most commercially available terminals, the control unit 300 and the codec 400 are implemented as one integrated circuit, for example, the MSM series chip of Qualcomm.

The operation unit 100 includes various key buttons provided on the front and side surfaces of the mobile communication terminal, for example, and receives a user's operation command. In a preferred embodiment, the operation unit 100 includes △ · ▽ buttons as a sign language volume control key on one side of the terminal. In addition, according to a characteristic aspect of the present invention, in this embodiment, the operation unit 100 further includes a △ · ▽ button to adjust the volume of the call provided on the other side of the terminal. However, this is not essential, and the volume setting may be made by selecting the on-screen menu or a combination of a handset volume control key and another key.

According to a characteristic aspect of the present invention, the control unit 300 controls a gain of a sign language volume received through the communication unit 200 according to an operation signal of the operation unit 100, and additionally, the operation unit. And a talk volume control unit 320 for adjusting a gain of the talk volume output through the communication unit 200 according to an operation signal input from the 100.

In one embodiment, the sign language volume control unit 310 is decompressed (restored) in the codec 400 and then converted to an analog signal to adjust the gain value of the sign language volume output to the speaker. Specifically, the sign language volume control unit 310 controls the gain of the variable gain amplifier 510 for amplifying a sign sound output to the speaker 600 according to an operation command input from the manipulation unit 100. The amplification factor of the variable gain amplifier may be controlled by, for example, selecting resistance values connected in the resistor array. Techniques for controlling the variable gain amplifier by a microprocessor include various well-known circuits, and thus detailed descriptions thereof will be omitted. According to such a configuration, the user can make a call in a good environment by adjusting the volume of the sign language output through the speaker during the voice call.

The call volume control unit 320 adjusts the gain of the call volume output through the communication unit 200 according to an operation signal input from the operation unit 100 during a call. The call volume is set by default at the start of the call. When the command to increase or decrease the call tone from the control unit 100 in the call state, the call volume control unit 320 adjusts the call volume at the default value. In an exemplary embodiment, the voice signal input from the microphone 600 is amplified by the variable gain amplifier 500 and then converted into a digital signal and compressed by the codec 400. In this case, the default value of the talk volume is a gain value of the variable gain amplifier 500. Since the gain control is similar to the sign language volume control unit 310, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In another embodiment, the talk volume control unit 320 controls the A / D converter for converting the voice signal input from the microphone 600 into a digital signal. Sample values output from the A / D converter are typically linearly converted sample values. When the user realizes that the talk volume is low and chooses to raise the talk volume, the microprocessor converts the output sample values of the A / D converter using a predetermined lookup table. At this point, the lookup table is another linear transformation, with only a larger slope. Accordingly, the linearly transformed sample values are effectively amplified without additional circuitry. This conversion process may be effectively accomplished by separate hardware or by a preprocessing routine provided inside the codec 400.

According to an additional aspect of the present invention, the talk volume control unit 320 returns a gain set by the user during a call to a default value at the end of the call. For example, in a previous call, if user A has the maximum gain value of the talk volume and makes a voice call with B having the maximum gain value of the call volume, the volume may be too loud and damage the B ear. In this case, returning the gain to the default value can be very effective for the user. The talk volume control unit 320 stores a gain value set during a call in a temporary memory. The default value of the gain value is stored in another area of memory. When the call is terminated, the call volume control unit 320 detects this and sets the amplification factor of the variable gain amplifier to a default value. In another embodiment, the sample values of the A / D converter bypass the conversion by lookup table in the preprocessing routine of the codec. In another embodiment, the sample values of the A / D converter are controlled to be converted by a lookup table corresponding to the default value in the preprocessing routine of the codec.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a process of adjusting a call volume gain of a mobile communication terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. Hereinafter, the operation of the mobile communication terminal according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 2. As shown in the drawing, when the response signal for the call signal is input in the initial state of the voice communication standby mode (S10) (S20), the call is connected between the terminals and the call function is executed (S30). However, if the response signal for the call signal is not input in step S20, step S10 is repeated.

When the voice communication is started in step S30, the call volume control unit 320 according to the present invention is activated to adjust the gain value of the call volume. The user presses the △ button to adjust the volume of the call when he / she hears a complaint that the sound is less likely to be heard during the voice call or when he / she wants to make a small voice call in order to make a secret call (S40). Accordingly, the talk volume control unit 320 of the controller adjusts the gain of the talk volume by increasing the gain of the variable gain amplifier 500 that amplifies the voice signal input from the microphone 700. If you want to lower the volume, press the ▽ button to decrease the gain of the talk volume. The voice signal amplified by the amplification factor set by the variable gain amplifier 500 is digitally converted and compressed by the codec 400 and then transmitted through the communication unit 200. The transmitted signal is received at the terminal of the other party and reaches the other party's ear.

In another embodiment, the A / D converted sample values are effectively linearly converted by the look-up table selected by the song volume control unit 320 to vary the amplification factor.

When the voice call ends (step S60), the gain value of the talk volume set by the user during the call returns to the default value (step S70). If the call is not ended, the process returns to step S40 to wait for input of the talk volume control key.

As described in detail above, the mobile communication terminal according to the present invention can control not only the volume of the handset volume but also the volume of the handset volume during a voice call. If this is necessary, it is possible to easily change the tone.

In addition, when the user wants a secret call, if the user increases the volume of the call volume and makes a call, the user of the receiving mobile terminal can hear the call aloud even if the user speaks too small.

Furthermore, the mobile communication terminal according to the present invention returns to the original default value when the call volume gain value set during the call is terminated, and when the voice call is made with another person, the call volume gain value set in the previous call is used as the call tone. This can be prevented from being output, thereby making it possible to stabilize the volume of the call by preventing a loud sound to the other party from being undesired or being sent out so small that the call is impossible.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the accompanying drawings, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many different and obvious modifications are possible without departing from the scope of the invention from this description. Therefore, the scope of the invention should be construed by the claims described to include many such variations.

Claims (4)

An operation unit 100 for inputting a user's operation signal, Communication unit 200 for transmitting and receiving a voice signal, Restoring the compressed voice signal received through the communication unit 200 and outputting to the speaker 600 as a sign language, compressing and converting the transmitted voice signal input through the microphone 700 to be transmitted to the communication unit 200 Codec 400, In the mobile communication terminal comprising a control unit 300 including a sign language volume control unit 310 for adjusting the sign language volume output to the speaker 600 according to the operation signal of the operation unit 100, The mobile communication terminal further comprises a call volume control unit 320 for adjusting the volume of the call sent through the communication unit 200 according to the operation signal input from the operation unit 100. . The method of claim 1, wherein the volume control section 320 is: And a call volume gain value set by the user at the end of the voice call. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the talk volume control unit 320 controls the gain value of the variable gain amplifier 500 interposed between the microphone 700 and the codec 400. Mobile communication terminal. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the volume control unit 320 is: And a conversion ratio for linearly converting sample values converted into a digital signal by the codec (400).