KR20100122785A - Apparatus and method for changing mode of a portable terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A method and a device for changing a mode of a portable terminal are provided to automatically change a mode of a portable terminal according to the amount of output currents of a solar cell, thereby removing a separation sensor to save a unit price of a portable terminal. CONSTITUTION: An output current of a solar cell is checked(S207). A vibration level is set when event generation is notified by vibration. When event generation is notified by a bell sound, a bell sound level is set. User state information is changed on a messenger according to an output current of the solar cell.

Description

Method and device for changing the mode of the mobile terminal {APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CHANGING MODE OF A PORTABLE TERMINAL}

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for changing a mode of a portable terminal, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for changing a mode of a portable terminal based on a current amount of a solar cell.

With the development of mobile communication technology, portable terminals, which have become a necessity of modern people, provide various optional functions such as MP3 function, mobile broadcast reception function, video playback function, and camera function. In particular, recently, a portable terminal provided with a battery charging function using solar energy has been developed.

The portable terminal may be set to various modes such as a vibration mode, a ringtone mode, and a silent mode. The ringing mode is a mode configured to notify the user of preset call information such as a call or a text message reception. The vibration mode, also called a silent mode, refers to a mode configured to vibrate the mobile terminal in place of the sound information to notify reception of a call, a text message, and the like. The silent mode is a mode set to flash a light emitting diode (LED) mounted on the outside of the mobile terminal or to change the screen of the display unit without generating sound information and vibration to inform the reception. Say. Conventional portable terminals allow a user to change modes using a mode change menu or a shortcut key. That is, in the conventional portable terminal, there is an inconvenience that the user must change the mode of the portable terminal according to the situation. For example, the user should change the mode of the mobile terminal to a vibration mode, a silent mode, or the like in a place requiring quietness such as a theater or a movie theater.

Therefore, the present invention was devised to solve the problems of the prior art as described above, and an object of the present invention is to automatically change the mode of the mobile terminal according to the output current amount of the solar cell charging the battery using sunlight. The present invention provides a method and apparatus for changing a mode of a portable terminal.

Mode change apparatus of a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above object is a solar cell for converting the light energy to electrical energy output; A storage unit which stores mode setting information mapped with modes of the portable terminal according to the output current of the solar cell; Recognizing the output current of the solar cell, by checking the mode setting information to set at least one of the vibration and the ring tone different from the previous state according to the output current of the solar cell to control to change the mode of the portable terminal automatically It characterized in that it comprises a control unit.

The mode change method of a portable terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above object in the mode change method of a portable terminal having a solar cell for converting light energy into electrical energy, the output current of the solar cell Confirming process; And automatically changing a mode of the portable terminal by setting at least one of vibration and a ring tone differently from the previous state according to preset mode setting information corresponding to the output current of the solar cell.

As described above, according to the method and apparatus for changing a mode of a mobile terminal proposed by the present invention, the user can change the mode of the mobile terminal to a vibration environment, a silent mode, a ringtone mode, etc. In this case, the user's convenience can be improved. In addition, since the present invention automatically changes the mode of the portable terminal according to the output current amount of the solar cell provided to charge the battery using sunlight, it is possible to save the unit price of the portable terminal without adding a separate sensor.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. At this time, it should be noted that the same components in the accompanying drawings are represented by the same reference numerals as possible. In addition, detailed descriptions of well-known functions and configurations that may blur the gist of the present invention will be omitted.

It should be noted that the embodiments of the present invention disclosed in the present specification and drawings are only illustrative of the present invention in order to facilitate the understanding of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that other modifications based on the technical idea of the present invention can be carried out in addition to the embodiments disclosed herein.

Prior to the detailed description of the present invention, hereinafter, for convenience of description, the portable terminal according to the embodiment of the present invention is a terminal including a solar cell, including a navigation terminal, a digital broadcasting terminal, a personal digital assistant (PDA) Personal Digital Assistant (Smart Phone), Smart Phone, Portable Multimedia Player (PMP) terminal, International Mobile Telecommunication 2000 (IMT-2000) terminal, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) terminal, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) terminal, The present invention can also be applied to all information communication devices and multimedia devices such as a Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) terminal and a Universal Mobile Telecommunication Service (UMTS) terminal and applications thereof.

1 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of a mobile terminal 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the portable terminal 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may include a controller 110, a storage 120, a display 130, and a solar cell 150.

The solar cell 150 may convert light energy into electrical energy. The solar cell 150 may be classified into a solar cell using solar heat and a solar cell using solar light. In an embodiment of the present invention, it is preferable to apply a solar cell that converts photons into electrical energy. Briefly, the solar cell of the solar cell is composed of a p-n junction diode (p-n junction diode). The photovoltaic solar cell is based on photovoltaic energy conversion and electrons are asymmetrically arranged in a semiconductor structure. For example, in a P-N junction diode, the n-type region has a large electron density and a small hole density, and the p-type region is formed in the opposite direction. Accordingly, in thermal equilibrium, a diode composed of a junction of a p-type semiconductor and an n-type semiconductor generates an imbalance of charge due to diffusion due to a concentration gradient of a carrier, and thus an electric field is formed. Carrier diffusion no longer occurs. When these junction diodes are subjected to light above the band gap energy, which is the energy difference between the material's conduction band and valence band, the electrons receive this light energy and the electrons pass from the valence band to the conduction band. Here it is. At this time, the electrons excited by the conduction band can move freely, and holes are generated in the valence band where electrons escape. The transient carriers thus generated are diffused by the concentration difference in the conduction band or the valence band. In the diffusion process, the main carriers existing in the p-type or n-type semiconductors are disturbed by the energy barrier caused by the electric field, but the auxiliary carriers generated by the diffusion can move to other types of semiconductors. As a result, the movement of carriers occurs by the diffusion process, which causes the charge balance in the natural state to be broken, thereby generating a voltage difference, thereby generating an electromotive force at the anode terminal of the p-n junction diode.

The solar cell 150 may be manufactured in a form in which a plurality of cells are formed in an aggregate. The solar cell 150 may be formed to be transparent or translucent or opaque according to the manufacturing method. The solar cell 150 of the present invention is disposed on the body of the mobile terminal 100, and when the solar cell 150 is disposed on a cover of the mobile terminal 100, the solar cell 150 may be manufactured in a translucent or opaque form and disposed on the display unit 130. In this case it may be manufactured in a transparent form. The intensity of the output current of the solar cell 150 varies according to the intensity of sunlight. In general, the solar cell 150 used in the portable terminal may output a current of 0 ~ 150 mA according to the intensity of sunlight. By using this, the battery (not shown) of the mobile terminal 100 may be charged.

The storage unit 120 may store a program necessary to perform the overall operations and specific functions of the portable terminal 100 and data generated during the execution of the program. That is, the storage unit 120 is an operating system (OS) for booting the portable terminal 100, an application required for the function operation of the portable terminal 100, and data generated according to the use of the portable terminal 100. Can be stored. The storage unit 120 may include a read only memory (ROM) and a random access memory (RAM). In particular, the storage unit 120 according to the present invention may store mode setting information. The mode setting information is information mapped to an output current range of the solar cell 150 for each mode, such as a theater mode, an indoor mode, and an outdoor mode, which can be set in the portable terminal 100. Such mode setting information may be stored as shown in Table 1 below.

Current range mode 0 or more to less than 30 mA Theater mode 30 or more but less than 70 mA Indoor mode 70 mA or more Outdoor mode

Referring to <Table 1>, when the current output from the solar cell 150 is 0 or more and less than 30 mA, the portable terminal 100 is set to a theater mode, and the current output from the solar cell 150 is When 30 or more and less than 70 mA, the portable terminal 100 may be set to an indoor mode, and when the current output from the solar cell 150 is 70 mA or more, the portable terminal 100 may be set to an outdoor mode. On the other hand, Table 1 shows an example and does not limit the present invention. For example, in Table 1, three modes of the portable terminal 100 are described, but the present invention can set the mode of the portable terminal 100 to three or more and store the current range accordingly. In addition, it is obvious that the present invention is not limited to the current range for each mode shown in Table 1 above.

In addition, the mode setting information may store a profile for each mode. The profile is information set to inform the user of at least one means of vibration, ringtone, or silence. In this case, the silent signal indicates an event occurrence through a screen change of a display unit or a blinking operation of a light emitting diode (LED) located outside the portable terminal 100 and the mobile terminal 100 does not perform any operation. May include cases that do not.

The profile may be stored with different means for notifying the occurrence of an event for each event, such as a call reception event, a text message reception event, a wake-up call event, and an alarm event. For example, the profile of the theater mode may be set to generate a vibration when an event such as a call reception, a text message reception, an alarm occurs, and generate a ringtone when a wake-up event occurs. Here, when the event is set to notify the ringtone, the profile may further include a ringtone level. This is to reduce the bell volume when indoors, and to relatively increase the bell volume when outdoors. For example, when the bell volume of the mobile terminal 100 can be set to five levels, the present invention sets the bell volume to three levels in the indoor mode, and sets the bell volume to five levels in the outdoor mode. Can be set to level. This is because outdoors is generally noisier than indoors, so the user may not be able to hear the ringtone. In addition, the profile may include a vibration level when an event occurrence is notified by vibration.

The storage unit 120 includes a profile setting menu that allows the user to appropriately set the profile according to a user's situation, and a menu for setting whether to activate an automatic mode change function for automatically changing a mode of the portable terminal 100. Can be stored. In addition, the storage unit 120 may store a mode setting menu for setting a mode of the portable terminal. In detail, when a user executes the mode setting menu and selects to store in a specific mode, the storage unit 120 outputs the current recognized by the solar cell 150 when the specific mode is selected under the control of the controller 110. A predetermined predetermined value may be added to and subtracted from and stored as the output current range of the specific mode. Through this, even in the same place, the mode of the mobile terminal 100 may be set differently according to the user.

The display unit 130 may output screen data generated while the function of the portable terminal 100 is performed, status information according to a user's key operation and function setting. In addition, the display unit 130 may visually display various signals and color information output from the controller 110. The display unit 130 may be formed of a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic light-emitting diode (OLED), or the like. When the display unit 130 is implemented as a touch screen method, the display unit 130 may operate as an input unit that receives an input from a user. In particular, the display unit 130 according to the present invention may output the mode of the mobile terminal 100 currently set under the control of the controller 110. The display unit 130 may output a mode setting menu screen or a profile setting menu screen.

The controller 110 may perform an overall control function for the mobile terminal 100 and control a signal flow between blocks in the mobile terminal 100. In particular, when the automatic mode change function is set, the controller 110 recognizes the output current of the solar cell 150, and vibrates according to preset mode setting information corresponding to the output current. At least one of the ringtone and the silent mode may be set differently from the previous state to control the mode of the portable terminal 100 to be changed automatically. To this end, the controller 110 may include a current detector 111 and a mode converter 112.

The current detector 111 may recognize the output current of the solar cell 150. The current detector 111 may include an ADC (Analog Digital Convertor or lower ADC) for converting an analog signal into a digital signal so that the controller 110 can recognize the output current of the solar cell 150. The ADC may recognize the output current of the solar cell 150 as a digital value of 8 bits. That is, the output current of the solar cell 150 may be recognized in 256 steps.

The mode converter 112 may check mode setting information stored in the storage 120 according to the output current recognized by the current detector 111. Thereafter, the mode conversion unit 112 may change the mode of the portable terminal 100 to a mode mapped to the mode setting information. For example, when the output current of the solar cell 150 recognized from the current detector 111 is 50 mA, the mode conversion unit 112 operates the portable terminal 100 in the indoor mode according to the <Table 1>. Can be changed to

Meanwhile, the controller 110 checks whether the solar cell 150 is activated to reduce battery consumption, and checks the output current of the solar cell 150 at predetermined intervals only when the solar cell 150 is activated. It is possible to change the mode of the mobile terminal 100.

When the mobile terminal 100 provides a messenger service for providing online / offline information, message transmission and reception, etc. of a registered counterpart using a presence server, the mobile terminal 100 provides a messenger service. The user state information on the messenger may be changed according to the output current of the solar cell 100. For example, the controller 110 may change at least one of an emoticon indicating a user state and an alias of a user. In other words, when the output current of the solar cell 150 is large, the controller 110 is located in a place where the lighting condition is good, and changes at least one of the emoticon and the user alias, and when the output current is small, the lighting state is not good. Located at a place may change at least one of the emoticon and the user nickname.

In addition, the present invention may provide a menu that allows a user to set the emoticon to be changed on the messenger and the user's nickname according to an output current.

On the other hand, it has been described above that the mode of the mobile terminal 100 is automatically changed according to the output current of the solar cell 150, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the present invention can check the output voltage of the solar cell 150, it is possible to automatically change the mode of the portable terminal 100 according to the output voltage.

In addition, although not shown, the portable terminal 100 may include a camera module for capturing an image or a video, a short range communication module for short range wireless communication, a broadcast receiving module for broadcast reception, a digital sound reproduction module such as an MP3 module, and an internet network. The communication module may further include components having additional functions such as an internet communication module for performing an Internet function. These components may not be enumerated because all of them vary according to the convergence trend of digital devices. However, the mobile terminal 100 according to the present invention may further include components of the same level as those mentioned above. It may include.

In the above, the configuration of a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention has been described. Hereinafter, a method of changing a mode of a portable terminal according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a mode change method of a mobile terminal according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

1 and 2, the controller 110 may be in a standby state at step S201. Thereafter, the controller 110 may check whether the automatic mode change function is set in step S203. If the automatic mode change is not set, the controller 110 may proceed to step S205 to perform a corresponding function. For example, when the profile setting menu is activated, the controller 110 may output a screen for setting means (vibration, ringtone, silence, etc.) for notifying the occurrence of an event for each event as described above. Alternatively, the controller 110 may manually change the mode according to the user's selection.

On the other hand, when the automatic mode change is set, the control unit 110 may proceed to step S207 to recognize the output current value of the solar cell 150 for each predetermined period (for example, sleep mode period). The sleep mode period refers to a period set to wake up a receiving end of a wireless communication unit (not shown) of the portable terminal 100 in a sleep state to reduce battery consumption.

Next, the control unit 110 may check the mode setting information stored in the storage unit 120 in step S209. The mode setting information is information mapped to an output current range of the solar cell 150 for each mode, such as a theater mode, an indoor mode, and an outdoor mode, which can be set in the portable terminal 100. For example, when the output current of the solar cell 150 is low (eg, 0 or more and less than 30 mA), the portable terminal 100 may be changed to a theater mode. In this case, the profile of the theater mode may be set to generate a vibration when an event such as a call reception, a text message reception and an alarm occurs, and to generate a ringtone upon a wake-up event. Meanwhile, the profile may further include a ringing level when notifying the occurrence of an event as a ringtone, and may further include a vibration level when notifying the occurrence of an event with a vibration. This is to reduce the bell volume when indoors, and to relatively increase the bell volume when outdoors. For example, when the bell volume of the portable terminal 100 can be set in five steps, the present invention can set the bell volume in three steps in the indoor mode and set the bell volume in five steps in the outdoor mode.

Thereafter, the controller 110 checks whether the mode change of the portable terminal 100 is necessary in step S211, and when the mode change is necessary, the controller 110 may change the mode of the portable terminal 100 according to the mode setting information. On the other hand, if the mode change is not necessary, the controller 110 may proceed to step S215 to maintain the current mode.

Although not shown in FIG. 2, the mobile terminal 100 provides a messenger service for providing online / offline information of a registered counterpart using a presence server, transmitting and receiving messages, and performing video communication. When providing the controller 110 may change the user state information on the messenger according to the output current of the solar cell 150. For example, the controller 110 may change at least one of an emoticon representing the user state and a nickname of the user. In other words, when the output current of the solar cell 150 is large, the control unit 110 is located in a place where the lighting condition is good. At least one of the emoticon and the user alias is changed, and when the output current is small, the lighting state is bad. At least one of the emoticon and the user alias may be changed. The user may provide a menu for setting the emoticon to be changed according to the output current of the solar cell 150 and the user's nickname. Through this, it is possible to indirectly inform the other party connected to the messenger information about the place where the user is located. For example, if the user sets the emoticon to change the emoticon to the theater when the output current of the solar cell 150 is less than or equal to a certain value, the other party checks the emoticon and the user exits the theater without attempting to make a call. If the status changes, you will be able to try the call.

In addition, in the above description, the controller 110 always checks the output current of the solar cell 150 at a predetermined cycle, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, in consideration of battery consumption, the controller 1110 may check the output current of the solar cell 150 at regular intervals only when the solar cell 150 is activated.

In addition, the above description has been made as to automatically change the mode of the mobile terminal according to the output current of the solar cell 150, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the present invention may change the mode of the mobile terminal 100 by checking the output voltage of the solar cell 150.

As described above, the present invention can automatically change the mode of the portable terminal according to the output current of the solar cell, thereby improving user convenience, and does not add a separate sensor for changing the automatic mode. Can be lowered.

In the above description of preferred embodiments of the method and apparatus for changing a mode of a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention through the present specification and drawings, although specific terms are used, this is only for easily describing the technical contents of the present invention. It is only used in a general sense to help understand the invention, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. That is, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that various embodiments based on the technical idea of the present invention are possible.

1 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of a portable terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a flowchart illustrating a mode change method of a mobile terminal according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Claims (12)

In the mode change method of a mobile terminal having a solar cell for converting light energy into electrical energy, Checking an output current of the solar cell; And automatically changing a mode of the portable terminal by setting at least one of vibration and a ring tone differently from the previous state according to preset mode setting information corresponding to the output current of the solar cell. How to change mode. The method of claim 1, The mode setting information is And a profile configured to notify a user of at least one event of at least one of a call reception, a text message reception, an alarm, and a wake-up call by means of at least one of vibration and ringing. The method of claim 2, And setting a profile for each mode of the portable terminal. The method of claim 3, The process of setting the profile Setting a vibration level when notifying the occurrence of the event by vibration; And setting a ring level when notifying the occurrence of the event as a ring tone. The method of claim 1, And changing the user state information on the messenger according to the output current of the solar cell. The method of claim 5, The process of changing the user state information And changing at least one of an alias of a user and an emoticon indicating a state of the user. In the mode change device of a mobile terminal, Solar cell for outputting light energy by converting the electrical energy; A storage unit which stores mode setting information mapped with modes of the portable terminal according to the output current of the solar cell; Recognizes the output current of the solar cell, checks the mode setting information, and controls to automatically change the mode of the portable terminal by setting at least one of vibration and a ring tone different from the previous state according to the output current of the solar cell. And a controller for controlling the mode of the mobile terminal. The method of claim 7, wherein The control unit A current detector for recognizing the output current; And a mode converter for automatically changing the mode of the portable terminal. The method of claim 7, wherein The mode setting information is And a profile configured to notify a user of occurrence of an event including a call reception, a text message reception, an alarm, and a wake-up call by at least one means of vibration and ringing. The method of claim 7, wherein The profile is And storing a ringing level when the event is set to notify an event occurrence by the ringtone, and further storing a vibration level when the event is set to notify the occurrence of the event by the vibration. The method of claim 7, wherein The control unit And changing the user state information on the messenger according to the output current of the solar cell. The method of claim 11, The control unit And changing at least one of an alias of a user and an emoticon indicating the user state.

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