KR20090086765A - A method of saving power in a portable terminal and an apparatus thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

A power saving method of a portable terminal producing the pattern of the area of action of a user and an apparatus thereof are provided to reduce load by omitting arbitrary base station search. A wireless communication unit(110) receives and transmits a message to the other portable terminal through high frequency signal. A GPS(Global Positioning System) receiver(120) receives the GPS location information from the GPS satellite. An audio processor(130) reproduces audio signal or transmits the audio signal to a controller. A display unit(160) visually provides the various information for a user.

Description

A method of saving power in a portable terminal and an apparatus

The present invention relates to a portable terminal, and more particularly, to a power saving method and apparatus for a portable terminal.

Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) is a digital mobile phone system classified as a 2'nd Generation (2G) cellular system and is widely used in Europe and elsewhere. GPRS (General Packet Radio Services), developed based on GSM, is a more advanced packet-based mobile communication service, and is intended to provide high-quality, high-quality voice and multimedia services. It is an evolutionary step toward mobile communication systems, especially UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System).

UMTS is based on the GSM communications standard, but uses wide band, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology, and enables packet-based text, digitized voice or video, and mobile or computer users anywhere in the world. It provides a service that can transmit multimedia data at high speed of 2Mbps or more. This UMTS uses the concept of a virtual connection called a packet-switched connection that uses a packet protocol such as Internet Protocol (IP), and can always be connected to any other end in the network.

Mobile communication technology will evolve from 2G (2'nd Generation) cellular systems, especially GSM / GPRS to 3G (3G) mobile communication systems, especially UMTS. But the transition from 2G to 3G will be gradual over the years, for quite some time.

In such a cell environment, the mobile terminal constantly repeats a service state and a non-service state, and in case of a service state, the mobile terminal constantly moves. At this time, the mobile terminal will repeat the process of searching for a specific cell. Therefore, there is a need for a method of reducing the load of such a process.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention in view of the above-described demands is to calculate a pattern of a user's behavior radius and to save a load by omitting a search for a neighboring base station while being located in a specific cell that stays for a long time. And providing an apparatus.

In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a power saving method of a mobile terminal, the method including receiving GPS location information and calculating a current serving cell based on the GPS location information. Determining whether the mobile terminal belongs to the cell coverage, and performing a power saving mode in which the neighbor cell search is not performed according to the calculated weight of the current serving cell when the location of the mobile terminal belongs to the calculated cell coverage. .

In the power saving mode, when receiving a parameter value indicating that the reception state is poor from the base station of the serving cell, the method further comprises the step of switching from the power saving mode to the normal mode for performing the neighbor cell search; do.

The parameter may be any one or more of a seed value (c1) below a predetermined value and a bad frame indicator (BFI).

The calculated cell coverage is an area in which the current GPS position information of a point in which the reception condition is good in the reference GPS position information is a diameter.

The weight may be a cumulative value of a period in which the portable terminal is located in the cell coverage.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a power saving apparatus for a portable terminal, the wireless communication unit searching for a serving base station and a neighboring base station at predetermined intervals for wireless communication; A GPS receiver for receiving GPS location information; And determining whether the mobile terminal belongs to the calculated cell coverage of the current serving cell according to the GPS location information, and searching for a neighboring base station if the weight of the current serving cell is greater than or equal to a preset value when the mobile terminal belongs to the calculated cell coverage of the current serving cell. And a control unit for controlling the wireless communication unit to be omitted.

The control unit controls the wireless communication unit to perform serving base station and neighbor base station search in a power saving mode when receiving a parameter value indicating that a reception state is poor from the base station of the serving cell during the power saving mode. It features.

The parameter may be any one or more of a seed value (c1) below a predetermined value and a bad frame indicator (BFI).

The calculated cell coverage is an area in which the current GPS position information of a point in which the reception condition is good in the reference GPS position information is a diameter.

The weight value is a cumulative value of the DRX cycle of the mobile terminal in the cell coverage.

According to the present invention, when the user calculates the behavior radius pattern and is located in a cell that stays in a specific cell for a long time, the process of searching for neighboring base stations is omitted. Therefore, it is possible to save power by reducing the load on the mobile terminal. Therefore, the portable terminal has an advantage of extending battery life.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that in the following description, only parts necessary for understanding the operation according to the present invention will be described, and descriptions of other parts will be omitted so as not to distract from the gist of the present invention.

Prior to the description of the embodiments of the present invention, terms such as C1, BFI (bad frame indicator) and DRX (Discontinuous Reception) used in the embodiments of the present invention are terms according to the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standard. Here, C1 and BFI are parameter values that can be received from the base station, and DRX means a period for a specific user equipment (UE) to read system information.

The present invention focuses on the fact that the movement path and the behavior radius of the general user are regular. That is, the average student user spends the most time at home and school, while the average office worker spends the most time at home and work. At this time, the user does not have a wide moving radius. For this reason, when the user's portable terminal camps in the serving cell at a place where the user spends most of the time, the portable terminal can save portable terminal resources by omitting the process of searching for a neighboring base station.

First, a portable terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention for performing the above-described method will be described. Prior to the description, in the embodiment of the present invention, the mobile terminal will be described using a mobile communication terminal as an example, but the present invention is not limited thereto. Therefore, the portable terminal according to the embodiment of the present invention is preferably a mobile communication terminal, a digital broadcasting terminal, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a smart phone, an IMT-2000 (International Mobile Telecommunication 2000). It will be apparent that all information communication devices and multimedia devices such as terminals, wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) terminals, universal mobile telecommunication service (UMTS) terminals, and the like, and applications thereof.

1 is a view for explaining a schematic configuration of a portable terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, a portable terminal according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a wireless communication unit 110, a GPS receiver 120, an audio processor 130, an input unit 140, a storage unit 150, a display unit 160, and It may be configured to include a controller 170.

The wireless communication unit 110 is responsible for a series of communication for transmitting and receiving a message in a radio frequency signal to another external portable terminal. The wireless communication unit 110 converts the modulated signal received from the control unit 160 into an intermediate frequency (IF) and then converts the modulated signal into a radio frequency (RF) signal to the base station through an antenna (ANT, antenna). It transmits and receives a high frequency signal from the base station through the antenna (ANT) and converts it sequentially to the intermediate frequency (IF) and base band (base band) to provide to the control unit 160.

In particular, the wireless communication unit 110 searches for a neighbor base station and a serving base station every predetermined period, for example, a DRX cycle. Here, searching for neighboring base stations and serving base stations may be performed by measuring a received signal strength indicator (RSSI), a quality of service (QoS), a carrier to noise ratio (CNR), etc. from each base station, or a system information block (SIB) from the base station. ) And the like. In particular, the received signal strength can be received by a parameter such as C1 or C2. In addition, when the frame is lost and received, the BFI may be received. On the other hand, in the power saving mode according to an embodiment of the present invention, the wireless communication unit 110 omits the process of searching for neighboring base stations.

Here, the wireless communication unit 110 according to an embodiment of the present invention may be configured according to a protocol for receiving a mobile communication service by accessing a system (GSM and UMTS) of 2G or 3G network. In addition, the portable terminal may further include another wireless communication unit capable of connecting to 2G and 3G networks. In addition, the portable terminal may be a dual mode dual band terminal having two wireless communication units, one wireless communication unit for connecting to a 2G network and another wireless communication unit for connecting to a 3G network. Can be.

The GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver 120 is a module for receiving GPS location information from a GPS satellite. Here, the GPS location information is location information received from the GPS satellites through the GPS receiver 120. This location information uses latitude longitude and elevation. In an embodiment of the present invention, location information received from a GPS satellite will be referred to as GPS location information.

The GPS satellite 10 transmits a GPS signal to the portable terminal and provides location information to the portable terminal 100. The location information is measured by accurate time and distance with three or more satellites, and the three different distances are calculated according to the triangulation method. Unlike compasses, satellite navigation systems can obtain accurate time with latitude, longitude, and altitude as well as three-dimensional velocity information.

The audio processor 130 plays a function of reproducing the audio signal output from the controller 170 or transmitting an audio signal such as a voice input from the microphone MIC to the controller 170.

The input unit 140 includes a plurality of input keys and function keys for receiving numeric or text information and setting various functions. The function keys may include direction keys, side keys, shortcut keys, and the like, which are set to perform a specific function. In addition, the input unit 140 transmits a key signal input in relation to user setting and function control of the portable terminal to the controller 170.

The storage unit 150 stores an application program for operating a function according to an embodiment of the present invention. In addition, the storage unit 150 may include a program area and a data area. Here, the program area stores an operating system (OS) for booting the portable terminal, an application program required for a function of the portable terminal, and the like. In addition, the data area may store a list of suitable cells and acceptable cells according to an embodiment of the present invention, and information corresponding thereto.

The display unit 160 visually provides a menu of the portable terminal, user data input by the user, function setting information, and various information to the user. The display unit 160 may be formed of a liquid crystal display (LCD). In this case, the display unit 160 may include a control device for controlling the liquid crystal display, a video memory capable of storing image data, and elements of the liquid crystal display. In particular, when a message is displayed under the control of the controller 170, the display unit 160 simultaneously displays the linked message.

The controller 170 controls the overall operation of the portable terminal and the signal flow between the internal blocks of the portable terminal. That is, the controller 170 controls the signal flow between components of the wireless communication unit 110, the GPS receiver 120, the audio processor 130, the input unit 140, the storage unit 150, and the display unit 160. . The controller 170 performs each function of the mobile terminal according to an input signal (for example, a key input signal and a touch event for touching the touch screen) input from the input unit 140, and the current state and the user menu according to the performance of the function are performed. Information such as the display is displayed through the display unit 150. In particular, the controller 170 converts the PCM voice signal provided from the audio processor 130 through channel coding and interleaving and modulates the voice signal to the wireless communication unit 110 when processing a voice signal for a telephone call. It provides a voice signal provided from the wireless communication unit 110 as a PCM voice signal through demodulation, equalization, channel decoding and deinterleaving and sends it to the audio processor 120. . In order to perform this function, a modem and a codec may be included. The codec includes a data codec for processing packet data, an audio codec for processing an audio signal such as voice, and a video codec for processing a video signal. In particular, the controller 170 receives GPS location information through the GPS receiver 120 at a predetermined cycle, that is, DRX cycle, and stores the location of the mobile terminal. In addition, when the position belongs to the calculated cell coverage of the specific cell, the controller 170 controls the wireless communication unit 110 to omit the process of searching for the neighboring cell.

Although not shown, the portable terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a storage medium inserting unit for inserting an external storage medium such as a memory card to store data, a connection terminal for exchanging data with an external digital device, and a charging terminal. It may be provided. In addition, the portable terminal may be configured to further include units having additional functions, such as a broadcast signal receiving module for receiving digital broadcasts, a camera module, an MP3 module for digital sound source reproduction. According to the convergence trend of digital devices, the variations of mobile devices are very diverse and cannot be enumerated. However, a unit equivalent to the above-mentioned units may be further included in the mobile terminal according to the present invention. It can be easily understood by those skilled in the art.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, an area in which a user of the mobile terminal frequently visits a specific area and stays for a long time is calculated. This area will be referred to as cell coverage. In the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, cell coverage is not a term indicating actual cell coverage of a cell, but means cell coverage calculated by a mobile terminal. When the mobile terminal is located in the calculated cell coverage, the neighbor base station search is omitted among the search of the serving base station information and the neighbor base station information that is performed for each DRX cycle.

In this way, the state in which the neighbor base station information search is omitted is referred to as "power saving mode". Meanwhile, the state in which both the serving base station information and the neighbor base station information search are performed as corresponding to the power saving mode is referred to as a "normal mode".

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the mobile terminal uses GPS location information at every Discontinuous Reception (DRX) cycle to manage information of its current serving cell. Table 1 below is an example of information for managing a serving cell according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Cell identifier Current GPS location information Previous GPS Location Information Reference GPS location information Cell coverage weight Last visit time

A table for managing cell information as shown in Table 1 will be referred to as a cell information table. The cell information table includes cell identifier, current GPS location information, previous GPS location information, reference GPS location information, weights, and recent visit time fields. The table according to Table 1 is updated with a DRX cycle period.

The cell identifier field describes an identifier for identifying a serving cell camped by the current mobile terminal. The current GPS location information field describes the GPS location information currently received for each DRX cycle. The previous current GPS location information field describes the GPS location information received in the previous DRX cycle for each DRX cycle. The reference GPS location information field describes GPS location information when the portable terminal is powered on or camped on a new cell. The cell coverage represents a circle area whose diameter is the length from the base GPS position information to the current GPS information when the reception state of the serving cell is good. Therefore, the cell coverage field describes a reference position that can represent such an area and a current position when the reception state is good. The weight is for indicating how long the mobile terminal visits the serving area of the current serving cell, and the weight field increases the weight for each DRX cycle. Here, the weight is preferably increased by one. The recent visit time field describes the time when the table was last updated in the cell.

Next, a method of calculating cell coverage using the cell information table will be described. 2 is a diagram illustrating a method of calculating cell coverage using a cell information table of a mobile terminal using a cell information table according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 2, the first, second and third cells 100, 200, 300 are shown. The first area 210 of the second cell 200 is a cell edge area and is an area in which reception is poor from the base station of the second cell 200, and a C1 value is received below 10 or a frame is lost and thus BFI is lost. Assume that the area can be received. On the other hand, it is assumed that the second area 220 is a good reception state from the base station of the cell. Here, the threshold value 10 of the C1 value is a value derived by experiment. Therefore, this threshold can be replaced with another value. For example, when the C1 value is 0, wireless communication is not possible through the corresponding base station, and the value of 0 may be set as a threshold.

It is assumed that the current serving base station of the mobile terminal is the base station of the first cell 100, and the user of the mobile terminal has sequentially moved along path 1 along the positions A to F. At this time, the positions A to F are the positions where the portable terminal receives the GPS position information for each DRX cycle. The GPS location information received in each of these DRX cycles is described in the table of FIG. 2. As disclosed in the table, in the first cycle, the portable terminal is in position A, which is an area in which reception from both base stations of the first and second cells is poor. In this case, since the mobile terminal has a poor reception state, the portable terminal is in a normal mode for searching for both neighboring base stations and serving base stations.

In addition, it is assumed that the portable terminal camps at the base station of the second cell 200 through a cell reselection process at location B.

Therefore, the reference GPS position information becomes position B. In the next cycle, the portable terminal is in position C. At location C, the mobile terminal receives GPS location information. Then, in the cell information table of Table 1, the current GPS position information becomes position C, and the previous GPS position information becomes position B. In addition, since the reference GPS position information is the position B and the current GPS position information is the position C, the cell coverage becomes a circle having the position C at the position B as the diameter. In this manner, the cell coverage calculated when the mobile terminal moves to the position D becomes a circular area having the position D as the diameter at the position A. FIG. In addition, when the mobile terminal is located in the calculated cell coverage, the mobile terminal operates in a power saving mode and omits a process of searching for neighboring base stations.

On the other hand, when the portable terminal moves to the position E, the portable terminal is in the position E, which is the second area 220. At this time, since the reception state from the serving base station is poor, the portable terminal does not extend cell coverage, and the cell coverage becomes a circle area having a diameter of position D, which is the previous GPS position information at position A. In addition, since the mobile terminal is out of cell coverage, the mobile terminal transitions back to the normal mode.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, as described above, when the cell coverage is calculated and the mobile terminal user is in an area belonging to the calculated cell coverage, the calculation of the base station of the neighboring cell is omitted in the calculated cell coverage area. It operates in power saving mode.

Next, the power saving mode and the normal mode described above will be described. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of switching to a power saving mode according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 3, it is assumed that the mobile terminal is currently camped on a specific cell and is in a normal mode. Therefore, the controller 170 searches for the base station of the serving cell and the neighboring cell in step S301. Therefore, when a cell having a better reception state exists, a process of reselecting a cell may be performed.

Subsequently, the controller 170 determines whether the C1 value received from the serving cell is less than 10 or a BFI is received in step S303. As a result of the determination, when the C1 value is 10 or more and no BFI is received, the process proceeds to step S305. Meanwhile, as a result of the determination, when the C1 value is less than 10 or when the BFI is received, the normal mode is maintained. C1 values and BFI reception below this threshold are used as a measure of the reception status from the cell.

The controller 170 receives GPS location information in step S305. Receiving such GPS location information is also performed every DRX cycle.

Then, according to the GPS position information currently received, the controller 170 determines whether the current position belongs to the calculated cell coverage in step S307. As a result of this determination, if the current position does not belong to the calculated cell coverage, the controller 170 proceeds to step S311 to update the cell information table. In this case, the controller 170 extends the cell coverage to the area having the current GPS position information as the diameter in the reference GPS position information.

As a result of the determination, if the current position belongs to the cell coverage, the controller 170 determines whether the weight of the corresponding cell is greater than or equal to a preset number in step S309. As described above, the weight has a high value when it is located in the corresponding cell for a long time. Accordingly, it can be known whether the mobile terminal is located in the corresponding cell for a long time according to the weight. In addition, the weight may be set to a specific value through repeated experiments. Therefore, if the weight is greater than or equal to the preset number, the controller 170 transitions from the normal mode to the power saving mode from the next DRX cycle. If the weight is less than the preset number, the controller 170 proceeds to step S311 to update the cell information table. That is, increase the weight and wait until the next DRX cycle.

As described above, when the mobile terminal is located in the cell coverage of a cell having a weight greater than or equal to a specific weight, the process of switching to the power saving mode to retrieve base station information of the neighboring cell may be omitted, thereby saving power of the mobile terminal.

Next, the process of the transition from the above power saving mode to the normal mode will be described. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of switching to a normal mode according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 4, the portable terminal is in a power saving mode. Therefore, the controller 170 searches for the base station of the serving cell in step S401.

Subsequently, the controller 170 determines whether the C1 value received from the serving cell is less than 10 or a BFI is received in step S403. As a result of the determination, when the C1 value is 10 or more and BFI is not received, the process proceeds to step S405. On the other hand, as a result of the determination, when the C1 value is less than 10 or receives the BFI, the state transitions to the normal mode.

The controller 170 receives GPS location information in step S405. The reception of such GPS location information is made every DRX cycle.

Then, the controller 170 updates the cell information table in step S407 according to the currently received GPS location information. At this time, if the mobile terminal extends the cell coverage, the cell coverage is extended from the reference GPS location information to the area having the current GPS location information as the diameter. In addition, the weight of the current serving cell is increased.

As described above, when the portable terminal does not receive parameter values indicating that the reception state is not good from the base station of the serving cell in the power saving mode, the base station of the neighboring cell is not searched.

While the present invention has been described using some preferred embodiments, these embodiments are illustrative and not restrictive.

For example, in the embodiment of the present invention, the C1 value and the BFI are used as a measure of the reception state. This measure is the most preferred embodiment, and of course, other values in the equivalent range may be used. In addition, in the embodiment of the present invention, the weight is data for measuring how often the mobile terminal visits the corresponding position and how long the user stays in the location, and a value to be applied to the step S309 may be set by repeated experiments.

As such, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that various changes and modifications can be made according to equivalents without departing from the spirit of the present invention and the scope of rights set forth in the appended claims.

1 is a view for explaining a schematic configuration of a portable terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a diagram for describing a method of calculating cell coverage using a cell information table of a mobile terminal using a cell information table according to an embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a flowchart illustrating a method for switching to a power saving mode according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for switching to a normal mode according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Claims (10)

In the power saving method of a mobile terminal, Receiving GPS location information, Determining whether the location of the mobile terminal belongs to the calculated cell coverage of the current serving cell according to the GPS location information; And performing a power saving mode in which the neighboring cell search is not performed according to the calculated weight of the current serving cell when the location of the portable terminal belongs to the calculated cell coverage. The method of claim 1, During the power saving mode, And receiving a parameter value indicating a poor reception state from the base station of the serving cell, switching from a power saving mode to a normal mode for performing neighbor cell search. . The method of claim 2, The parameter is The power saving method of the mobile terminal, characterized in that at least one of the C1 value and the BFI (bad frame indicator) less than a predetermined value. The method of claim 1, The calculated cell coverage is A method for saving power of a mobile terminal, characterized in that the area is a current GPS position information of a point where the reception condition is good in the reference GPS position information. The method of claim 1, The weight is And a cumulative value of a period in which the portable terminal is located in the cell coverage. In the power saving device of a mobile terminal, A wireless communication unit searching for a serving base station and a neighboring base station at predetermined intervals for wireless communication; A GPS receiver for receiving GPS location information; Determine whether the mobile terminal belongs to the calculated cell coverage of the current serving cell according to the GPS location information, And a controller configured to control the wireless communication unit to omit searching for a neighboring base station when the weight of the current serving cell is greater than or equal to a preset value when the weight falls within the cell coverage as a result of the determination. The method of claim 6, The control unit During the power saving mode, And receiving the parameter value indicating that the reception state is poor from the base station of the serving cell, controlling the wireless communication unit to perform serving base station and neighbor base station search in a power saving mode. The method of claim 7, wherein The parameter is The power saving device of the mobile terminal, characterized in that any one or more of the seed value (c1) or less than the predetermined value (bad frame indicator). The method of claim 1, The calculated cell coverage is A power saving device for a portable terminal, characterized in that the area is a current GPS position information of a point where the reception condition is good in the reference GPS position information. The method of claim 1, The weight is And the cell terminal is a cumulative value of a DRX cycle in the cell coverage.

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