Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
  • H04W52/00—Power management, e.g. TPC [Transmission Power Control], power saving or power classes
  • H04W52/02—Power saving arrangements
  • H04W52/0209—Power saving arrangements in terminal devices
  • H04W52/0225—Power saving arrangements in terminal devices using monitoring of external events, e.g. the presence of a signal
  • H04W52/0245—Power saving arrangements in terminal devices using monitoring of external events, e.g. the presence of a signal according to signal strength
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04M1/00—Substation equipment, e.g. for use by subscribers
  • H04M1/72—Mobile telephones; Cordless telephones, i.e. devices for establishing wireless links to base stations without route selection
  • H04M1/724—User interfaces specially adapted for cordless or mobile telephones
  • H04M1/72403—User interfaces specially adapted for cordless or mobile telephones with means for local support of applications that increase the functionality
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04M2250/00—Details of telephonic subscriber devices
  • H04M2250/12—Details of telephonic subscriber devices including a sensor for measuring a physical value, e.g. temperature or motion
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
  • Y02D—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES [ICT], I.E. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES AIMING AT THE REDUCTION OF THEIR OWN ENERGY USE
  • Y02D30/00—Reducing energy consumption in communication networks
  • Y02D30/70—Reducing energy consumption in communication networks in wireless communication networks

Definitions

• Embodiments described herein relate generally to communication control technique suitable for an electronic device including a wireless communication function, and the like.
• An electronic device of this type includes a wireless communication function, and allows the user to do work such as transmitting/receiving e mail and browsing Web pages even on the move or away from home.
• SAR measures employed in mobile electronic devices generally suppress the SAR value to a regulatory level by suppressing transmission power.
• this method narrows the communication range. For example, when the distance to a communication partner such as a base station forming a wireless service area is great, wireless communication may not be performed.
• FIG. 1 is an exemplary view showing the outer appearance of an electronic device according to an embodiment .
• FIG. 2 is an exemplary block diagram showing the hardware arrangement of the electronic device according to the embodiment.
• FIG. 3 is an exemplary block diagram showing a software arrangement pertaining to the SAR measure in the electronic device according to the embodiment.
• FIG. 4A is an exemplary first view for explaining the basic principle of the SAR measure in the
• FIG. 4B is an exemplary second view for explaining the basic principle of the SAR measure in the
• FIG. 5 is an exemplary flowchart showing the procedures of the SAR measure in the electronic device according to the embodiment.
• an electronic device includes a wireless communication module and a controller.
• the controller is configured to decrease transmission power of the wireless
• a communication state of the wireless communication module is a first state, and to shorten a data transmission period of the wireless communication module per unit period when the
• communication state of the wireless communication module is a second state.
• FIG. 1 is an exemplary view showing the outer appearance of an electronic device 1 according to the embodiment.
• the electronic device 1 is implemented as a so-called tablet PC which has, for example, a low-profile board-like housing and includes a touchpanel display 16 arranged at the center of the front surface of the housing.
• the user can give an operation instruction to the electronic device 1 by a touch input on the touchpanel display 16.
• An antenna 20A is arranged at a peripheral portion in the housing to execute wireless communication complying with, for example, the 3G/LTE standard. That is, the electronic device 1 includes a wireless communication function.
• the electronic device 1 is equipped with a mechanism of appropriately taking the SAR measure (to suppress the amount of electromagnetic radiation emitted from the antenna 20A and absorbed by the human body) . This will be described in detail below.
• FIG. 2 is an exemplary block diagram showing the hardware arrangement of the electronic device 1.
• the electronic device 1 includes a CPU 11, a memory controller hub (MCH) 12, a main memory 13, an I/O controller hub (ICH) 14, a display controller (GPU) 15, and a video memory (VRAM) 15A.
• the electronic device 1 also includes the
• the touchpanel display 16 a BIOS-ROM 17, an EEPROM 18, a flash memory 19, and a wireless communication module 20. Further, the electronic device 1 includes a sound controller 21, a loudspeaker 22, an embedded controller (EC) 23, and a sensor 24.
• a sound controller 21 a loudspeaker 22, an embedded controller (EC) 23, and a sensor 24.
• EC embedded controller
• the CPU 11 is a processor which controls the operation of the electronic device 1.
• the CPU 11 executes various programs such as an operating system (OS) 100, various drivers 110, and various application programs 120 which are loaded from the flash memory 19 into the main memory 13.
• the drivers 110 include a sensor driver 111 and 3G/LTE driver 112 to be described later.
• the CPU 11 also executes a BIOS stored in the BIOS-ROM 17.
• the BIOS is a program for hardware control.
• the MCH 12 operates as a bridge which connects the CPU 11 and ICH 14, and operates as a memory controller which controls access to the main memory 13.
• the MCH 12 includes a function of executing communication with the GPU 15.
• the GPU 15 is a display controller which uses the video memory 15A to execute image display on an LCD 161 built into the touchpanel display 16.
• An accelerator which renders images to be displayed by various combinations
• the ICH 14 operates as a memory controller which controls access to the BIOS-ROM 17, EEPROM 18, and flash memory 19.
• the ICH 14 includes a function of executing communication with the wireless communication module 20, sound controller 21, and EC 23.
• the EEPROM 18 is a storage medium for storing identification information of the electronic device 1 and the like.
• the wireless communication module 20 is a module which executes wireless communication
• the sound controller 21 is a sound source device, and outputs audio to be reproduced to the loudspeaker 22.
• the EC 23 is an embedded
• the EC 23 incorporates an input controller for controlling a touch input on the
• the sensor 24 is a human sensor for detecting that the electronic device 1 is proximal to the human body (user) . For example, when the user uses the electronic device 1 by holding it in his arm, the sensor 24 detects the proximal state and outputs a detection signal .
• a touchpanel 162 is built into the touchpanel display 16 to overlap the LCD 161.
• the touchpanel 162 includes a sensor 162a and microcontroller unit (MCU) 162b.
• the sensor 162a detects the region of the touch input
• the MCU 162b outputs input information indicating the input position on the touchpanel 162.
• the input information output from the MCU 162b is guided to the
• the EC 23 stores the input information in its register, then generates an interrupt to notify the CPU 11 of the input information, and causes the CPU 11 to read the input information stored in the register. As a result, the generation of the touch input event on the touchpanel 162 is transferred to the OS 100.
• the OS 100 notifies the application programs 120 of the generation of the event.
• FIG. 3 is an exemplary block diagram showing a software arrangement pertaining to the SAR measure in the electronic device 1.
• the drivers 110 which are loaded from the flash memory 19 into the main memory 13 and executed by the CPU 11 include the sensor driver
• the sensor driver 111 monitors whether the sensor 24 has detected the
• the 3G/LTE driver 112 controls to drive the wireless communication module 20 which executes the 3G/LTE wireless communication using the antenna 20A.
• the 3G/LTE driver 112 can control the transmission power of the wireless
• the communication module 20 acquires the received signal strength indication (RSSI) of the antenna 20A via the wireless communication module 20.
• RSSI received signal strength indication
• the sensor driver 111 executes SAR measure processing (to suppress the amount of
• the sensor 24 detects the approach of the human body (user) and outputs a detection signal.
• the detection signal output from the sensor 24 is input to the sensor driver 111. From the input of the detection signal, the sensor driver 111 recognizes that the electronic device 1 is proximal to the human body (user) .
• the sensor driver 111 Upon recognizing that the electronic device 1 is proximal to the human body (user) , the sensor driver 111 communicates with the 3G/LTE driver 112 and acquires the RSSI of the antenna 20A. If the RSSI is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold, the sensor driver 111 requests the 3G/LTE driver 112 to decrease the output power of the wireless communication module 20 to a predetermined level (al in FIG. 3) .
• the 3G/LTE driver 112 Upon receiving this request, the 3G/LTE driver 112 issues a command to the wireless communication module 20 to instruct it to decrease the output power to the predetermined level.
• the sensor driver 111 If the RSSI of the antenna 20A is lower than the predetermined threshold, the sensor driver 111 requests the OS 100 to stop data transmission at a predetermined interval . (a2 in FIG. 3) . More specifically, the sensor driver 111 controls the OS 100 to periodically stop data transmission from a TCP/UDP port.
• the communication partner such as a base station 2 is small, as shown in FIG. 4A, and the RSSI of the antenna 20A is greater than or equal to a predetermined
• the sensor driver 111 decreases the output power of the wireless communication module 20 to a predetermined level (decreases the strength of
• the sensor driver 111 shortens the data transmission interval (shortens the period during which the antenna 20A emits electromagnetic radiation) , thereby suppressing the amount of
• wireless communication may not be performed when the distance between the electronic device 1 and the communication partner such as the base station 2 is great. Considering this, when the RSSI of the antenna 20A is lower than the predetermined
• the electronic device 1 takes the measure to shorten the data transmission period per unit period, instead of decreasing the output power of the wireless communication module 20. Accordingly, wireless
• the electronic device 1 can appropriately take the SAR measure without impairing user
• FIG. 5 is an exemplary flowchart showing the procedures of the SAR measure in the electronic device
• the sensor driver 111 communicates with the 3G/LTE driver 112 to acquire the SSI of the antenna 20A (block A2 ) .
• the sensor driver 111 If the RSSI of the antenna 20A is greater than or equal to a threshold (YES in block A3) , the sensor driver 111 requests the 3G/LTE driver 112 to decrease the output power of the wireless communication module 20 (block A4 ) . If the RSSI of the antenna 20A is lower than the threshold (NO in block A3), the sensor driver 111 issues a request to the OS 100 to shorten the data transmission interval (block A5) .
• the sensor driver 111 cancels the control for the SAR measure to decrease the output power of the wireless communication module 20 or shorten the data transmission interval (block A6) .
• the electronic device 1 can appropriately take the SAR measure (to suppress the amount of electromagnetic radiation emitted from the antenna 20A and absorbed by the human body) in
• the sensor driver 111 performs the control to appropriately take the SAR measure.
• a utility program or the like may be separately prepared to acquire, from the sensor driver 111, an event in which the sensor 24 has
• the wireless communication module 20 can include an input terminal for inputting a detection signal output from the sensor 24.
• a module can be built in to execute, in response to input of the detection signal, SAR measure processing of decreasing the output power or shortening the data transmission interval in accordance with the RSSI of the antenna 20A.
• the operation control processing in the embodiment can be implemented by software (program) .
• program program
• the various modules of the systems described herein can be implemented as software applications, hardware and/or software modules, or components on one or more computers, such as servers. While the various modules are illustrated separately, they may share some or all of the same underlying logic or code.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
• Signal Processing (AREA)
• Human Computer Interaction (AREA)
• Mobile Radio Communication Systems (AREA)
• Telephone Function (AREA)
• Transceivers (AREA)

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Citations (4)

• 2012
  • 2012-06-27 JP JP2012144013A patent/JP2014007699A/ja active Pending
• 2013
  • 2013-03-14 WO PCT/JP2013/058204 patent/WO2014002548A1/en active Application Filing

Patent Citations (4)

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