JP3329045B2 - Portable communication device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a portable communication device for making a call with another portable communication device by wireless communication, and in particular, it is possible to automatically confirm a communication status with the other portable communication device. The present invention relates to a portable communication device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as this kind of portable communication device,
A so-called transceiver is known, and various products are provided. To improve the basic performance of these conventional portable communication devices, a two-band communication function is provided to enable two-way simultaneous communication. Higher functions such as longer time and further miniaturization are being promoted.

[0003] As a result, conventional portable communication devices have become widespread in general, not only for business use, but also at home, including hobbies such as mountain climbing and touring.

[0004]

However, the above-mentioned conventional portable communication apparatus has only been improved to enhance the function of talking with a distant partner, so that its spread to ordinary households has been limited. .

That is, the conventional portable communication device only performs a single call function with the other portable communication device located far away, and is reduced in size when no call is required. This is because even a portable communication device becomes unnecessary and becomes a mere heavy object. This is evident even in view of the fact that various products have been accepted into the market by increasing the number of functions to satisfy all personal or individual requirements, which can be said to be trivial.

[0006] For this reason, each manufacturer does not impair the basic functions of the portable communication device, satisfies the individual or individual requirements to be subdivided, and is accepted by the market as a multifunctional portable communication device. At present, it is difficult to develop a multifunction device, and the direction of multifunctionality is still uncertain.

The portable communication device of the present invention solves these problems, achieves multi-functionality by skillfully utilizing the basic performance of the portable communication device, and individually or individually requests the potential of ordinary households. It was made to satisfy personal requirements and has the following structure.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A portable communication device according to the present invention is a portable communication device for making a call with another portable communication device by wireless communication. Or a communication unit that demodulates and transmits and receives an audio signal, and a first process of transmitting a parent signal, which is a signal different from the audio signal, to the other portable communication device using a communication function of the communication unit. A second process of inputting a child signal which is a signal different from the audio signal transmitted from the other portable communication device on condition that the transmitted parent signal is received, and whether or not the child signal is received Each of the third processing of performing a predetermined notification assuming that the communication status with the other portable communication device is incapable of communication when reception of the child signal is not confirmed,
And a program for parents to be executed at predetermined intervals in the case of not performing a call, the parent for programs, the other portable communication device to check for reception of the transmitted parent signal child Independently of a child program that executes a process of transmitting a signal at an interval different from the predetermined interval ,
The execution of the parent program is started, and the predetermined interval at which the parent program is executed is such that the number of times the parent program is executed after the start of the parent program is executed within a predetermined number of times. An interval is set so that the child programs are simultaneously executed.

[0009]

In the portable communication device of the present invention constructed as described above, communication with a remote party, which is the basic performance of the portable communication device, is performed by the communication means. If no call is made, the parent program is executed at predetermined intervals,
A first process of transmitting a parent signal, which is a signal different from the audio signal, to the other portable communication device using the communication function of the communication means, and a condition that the transmitted parent signal is received; A second process of inputting a child signal, which is a signal different from the audio signal transmitted from the communication device, and confirming whether or not the child signal has been received. Each process of the third process of performing a predetermined notification assuming that the communication status with the communication device for communication is not possible is performed. These parent for programs, a program for the child to be executed at different intervals than the other of the predetermined interval the processing for transmitting the received child signals to check for the portable communication device the transmitted parent signal Independent of
The predetermined interval at which the line is started and the parent program is executed is such that the number of executions of the parent program after the start of the parent program is within a predetermined number of times. The interval is set so that the programs are executed simultaneously.

[0010] That is, the confirmation means and the notification means confirm the status of communication by the communication means, which is an essential component of the portable communication device, and execute the notification according to the confirmation result. In other words, when the notification is performed by the confirmation unit and the notification unit, the user who has received the notification determines that the holder of the other portable communication device that desires the call reaches a specific communication state. It is possible to recognize the fact that they are far apart, for example, they are far apart so as to exceed the communication capability of the communication means.

Here, the form of the notification by the notification means is not limited to the notification of the sound by the notification sound, the light by the lighting of the notification lamp, and the like, and the notification is executed by the other portable communication device by emitting a radio wave. Arbitrarily designed and configured.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In order to further clarify the configuration and operation of the present invention described above, a preferred embodiment of the portable communication device of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a hardware configuration employed in each of a set of portable communication devices. As shown in the figure, the portable communication device 20 of the present embodiment includes:
This is a communication device mainly including a well-known single sideband (SSB) wireless transceiver.

That is, the portable communication device 20 includes, as a functional unit for the transmitter, a microphone 22 that converts sound into an electric signal, an audio amplifier 24 that amplifies a signal output from the microphone 22, and a signal from the audio amplifier 24. An SSB modulator 26 that modulates the amplitude of a carrier with a signal and obtains a single sideband signal through a bandpass filter. The SSB wave or a reception frequency to be described later is mixed with a frequency from a local oscillator to transmit a radio wave or an intermediate frequency. Frequency conversion unit 28 that obtains a signal, and an amplifier 32 for amplifying the signal obtained by the frequency conversion unit 28 and transmitting radio waves from the antenna 30
And

The portable communication device 20 has a high-frequency amplifier 34 for amplifying the radio wave input from the antenna 30 as a functional unit for the receiver, and mixes the reception frequency and the transmission frequency of the local oscillator with a frequency mixer. The above-described frequency conversion unit 28 for obtaining an intermediate frequency, an intermediate frequency amplifier 36 for amplifying the intermediate frequency, a demodulator 38 for detecting a signal obtained by adding the output frequency of the local oscillator for demodulation to the intermediate frequency, and amplifying the detected signal. A low-frequency amplifier 40 and a speaker 42 for converting the amplified low-frequency signal into sound are provided.

Further, the portable communication device 20 of the present embodiment
In addition to the above components, it has the following unique component circuits. The oscillator 50 oscillates a predetermined signal that is clearly different from the output signal of the audio amplifier 24 based on a command from a communication status confirmation control unit 54 described later. The output signal of the oscillator 50 is output from the SSB modulator 2.
6, the radio signal can be transmitted from the antenna 30 via the functional units as the transmitter.

The comparison circuit 52 is connected to the output stage of the demodulator 38, and outputs a result of comparing a signal input from the demodulator 38 with a reference signal prepared therein to the communication status confirmation control unit 54. I do.

The communication status confirmation control unit 54 is a logic circuit composed of a known one-chip microcomputer, and stores and executes two programs described later in a nonvolatile manner. Then, one of the two programs is selectively executed according to the switching state of the parent-child changeover switch 56, and the signal output from the comparison circuit 52 is input to control the oscillator 50 and the low-frequency amplifier 40.

The power supply circuit 60 has a timer function for executing time measurement in addition to a basic function of supplying power required by each of the functional units from a built-in battery, and the power switch 62 is set to an "ON" position. If there is, power is constantly supplied to the above-described functional units as the transmitter and the receiver, and “OF”
If it is in the "F" position, the power supply is interrupted. When the power switch 62 is in the “standby” position, the power supply circuit 60 activates a built-in timer, and supplies power to the above-described constituent circuits intermittently at a predetermined time interval according to the result of the timer. Supply.

Next, the operation of the portable communication device 20 configured as described above will be described. Portable communication device 20
When the power switch 62 is in the "ON" or "OFF" position, the portable communication device 20 operates exactly the same as a normal transceiver or the like. That is, when the power switch 62 is in the “ON” position, the portable communication device 20
The necessary power is supplied to the functional unit as each transceiver, and wireless transmission and reception with the other portable communication device 20 is enabled. Further, when the power switch 62 is in the “OFF” position, the portable communication device 20 stops all operations to prevent the internal battery of the power circuit 60 from being consumed.

On the other hand, the power switch 62 is set to "standby".
When the portable communication device 20 is in the position, the power supply is intermittently performed to all the functional units including the communication status confirmation control unit 54, and the two The following processing is executed based on the programs “parent program” and “child program”. In addition, 1 set 2
One portable communication device 20 is used by setting one as a master device and the other as a slave device.

FIGS. 2 and 3 are explanatory diagrams of the operation of the portable communication device 20 when the power switch 62 is at the "standby" position. FIGS. 2A and 2B are communication status confirmation control units. FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a parent program and a child program stored in 54, and FIG. 3 is a timing chart of these program operations that are executed intermittently.

The parent program and the child program shown in FIG. 2 are executed at predetermined intervals after the power switch 62 of the portable communication device 20 is operated to the "standby" position as shown in FIG. The child program runs for 2 seconds with a 4 second interval, and the parent program runs for 2 seconds with a 5 second interval. The difference in the operation time of each program is set to guarantee a time zone in which intermittent operation and communication are possible in a set of portable communication devices 20 in which essentially synchronized operation cannot be guaranteed. That is, one set of the portable communication device 2
0 when the power switch 62 is operated to the “standby” position at different times, if the parent program is executed at most four times in one portable communication device 20, the other A period of time that overlaps with the execution time of the child program in the communication device 20 occurs several times in succession. In other words, the simultaneous execution of the parent program and the child program in one set of portable communication devices 20 always occurs after a 20-second interval in the worst case.

The operation of the parent program and the child program executed at such timing will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, FIG.
As shown in (A), when the operation of the parent program is started in one portable communication device 20, the communication status confirmation control unit 54 immediately activates the oscillator 50 to oscillate a signal of a predetermined frequency. The signal (hereinafter referred to as the parent signal)
Is modulated and amplified, and wirelessly transmitted from the antenna 30 (step 100).

On the other hand, in the communication status confirmation control section 54 of the other portable communication device 20, the child program shown in FIG. 2B is processed. The result is input (step 200), and it is determined whether or not the parent signal has been confirmed from the comparison result (step 210). That is, the same signal as the parent signal is set in advance as a reference signal of the comparison circuit 52,
The comparison between the signal demodulated by demodulator 38 and the parent signal is easily performed. Only when it is determined in step 210 that the parent signal has been confirmed, the other communication status confirmation control unit 54 activates the oscillator 50 to transmit a predetermined frequency signal (hereinafter referred to as a child signal) to the antenna 30. (Step 220), and terminates the child program.

The portable communication device 20 that has transmitted the parent signal by radio receives the comparison result of the comparison circuit 52 (step 110), and determines whether or not the child signal has been received (step 120). . The parent signal and the child signal may be the same frequency signal or different frequency signals. And step 120
If it is determined that the child signal has been confirmed in step (1), the communication status confirmation control unit 54 clears the internal counter C (step 130) and terminates the parent program.

On the other hand, if no child signal is confirmed in step 120, the counter C is incremented (step 140), and the number of unconfirmed child signals is greater than N (in the case of the present embodiment). (More than four times in the timing chart of FIG. 3) is determined (step 150), and if the number is less than N times, this program is ended. However, when the count value of the counter C exceeds N, it is clear that the communication status with the other portable communication device 20 has been disabled for some reason. A notification signal is output to the amplifier 40, a notification sound is output from the speaker 42 (step 160), the counter C is reset (step 170), and the program ends.

According to the portable communication device 20 of the present embodiment that operates as described above, the following effects are apparent. The portable communication device 20 has all the functional units required as a normal wireless transceiver, and can be used as a general transceiver by operating the power switch 62 to the “ON” or “OFF” position. Is possible.

Moreover, the portable communication device 20 of the embodiment is
A master program for automatically transmitting a parent signal and monitoring the input status of a child signal, or a child program for automatically transmitting a child signal according to the input status of the parent signal, by skillfully utilizing the functional unit as the wireless transceiver. And executes the above program when the power switch 62 is in the “standby” position. Therefore, the communication status of the one set of portable communication devices 20 is automatically monitored, and a notification sound is output from the speaker 42 when the communication status deteriorates.

Accordingly, it is possible to easily find out the battery of the other portable communication device 20 that is executing the child program and the failure of the device. In addition, when the caller holding the other portable communication device 20 is allowed to perform only a certain amount of action, for example, when it is desired to limit the range of action of a child or a group actor, the child may be given a child. Possessing the portable communication device 20 that executes the application program, a notification sound is output immediately when an action that exceeds the transmission / reception range of the portable communication device 20 occurs, and such a situation can be dealt with immediately. . Note that the portable communication device 2
Instead of judging the distance between the two based on whether or not the transmission / reception range exceeds 0, if the communication distance is within a predetermined range, the distance is detected based on the intensity of radio waves for communication. It is also preferable to adopt a configuration in which notification is performed. In this case, since the communication is still possible, if the user of the portable communication device 20 on the slave side responds, the voice can be received by the portable communication device 20 on the master side. In addition to the notification, not only the slave unit outputs the notification to the master unit but also a configuration in which the slave unit sounds a notification sound or the like. In this case, since the determination is made by the portable communication device 20 on the child device side, it is also possible to have a configuration in which upon receiving the determination, an alarm sound or the like is sounded by itself. Of course, the determination that the predetermined distance has been left may be made by the portable communication device 20 on the master device side.

Further, the portable communication device 20 of the present embodiment
The automatic transmission and reception operations as described above are performed intermittently according to a timing chart as shown in FIG. Therefore, the above-mentioned use can be performed for a long time while the consumption of the battery built in the power supply circuit 60 is suppressed to the minimum necessary. Moreover, since the execution timing of the parent program and the execution timing of the child program are set slightly different, the communication status of the portable communication device 20 can be reliably confirmed by several automatic transmission and reception operations.

As described above, according to the portable communication device 20 of the present embodiment, not only can it be used as a portable wireless communication device, but when the wireless communication with the other party becomes defective, the notification sound is emitted. Automatically, it is automatically checked whether the other portable communication device 20 of the other party is not operating properly or is located far away from the wireless communication range. can do. Therefore, for example, various uses such as prevention of a child from getting lost and limitation of the range of group activities can be considered, and multifunctionalization using the basic functions of a portable wireless communication device skillfully can be realized.

In the portable communication device 20 according to the present embodiment, the predetermined timing for executing the parent program and the child program has been described as being fixed. It may be automatically changed according to the remaining amount of the built-in battery. Also,
Although the above-mentioned parent signal and child signal have been described as signals of a predetermined frequency, if a plurality of combinations of these signals are made possible, a plurality of systems can be used in the same area.

The embodiments of the present invention have been described above.
The present invention is not limited to these embodiments at all, and it is needless to say that the present invention can be embodied in various modes without departing from the gist thereof. For example, in the above embodiment, the oscillator 50, the comparison circuit 52, and the communication status confirmation control unit 54 are described as independent functional blocks as independent functional blocks. It is easy to configure with a computer. In addition, since many of these unique functions are provided as basic functions of a conventional wireless transmission / reception device, various design techniques such as a configuration combining these functions are applied.

[0034]

As described above, the portable communication device of the present invention achieves multifunctionalization by skillfully utilizing the basic performance of the portable communication device, and provides a predetermined notification according to the result of confirming the communication status. Is performed, and it can be easily notified that communication with the other portable communication device is impossible. Therefore, for example, various uses such as prevention of a child from getting lost and limitation of the range of group activities are considered, and a multifunctional portable communication system capable of individually or individually satisfying a use request potentially existing in a general home or the like. The device can be realized. In addition, whether or not communication between one portable communication device and the other portable communication device is impossible is performed by executing a parent program and a child program that are started independently of each other at different intervals. The interval at which the parent program is executed is set such that the number of times the parent program is executed after the start of the parent program is executed within a predetermined number of times. The interval is set so that the programs are executed simultaneously.
By executing the parent program at such intervals, the communication status between the portable communication devices can be reliably confirmed for a long time.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a portable communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a parent program and a child program selectively processed by the portable communication device.

FIG. 3 is a timing chart showing an example of execution of the parent program and the child program.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 20 portable communication device 22 microphone 24 audio amplifier 26 SSB modulator 28 frequency converter 30 antenna 32 amplifier 34 high frequency amplifier 36 intermediate frequency amplifier 38 demodulator 40 low frequency amplifier 42 speaker 50 ... Oscillator 52 ... Comparison circuit 54 ... Communication status confirmation control unit 56 ... Parent-child changeover switch 60 ... Power supply circuit 62 ... Power supply switch

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A portable communication device for making a call with another portable communication device by wireless communication, wherein a communication means for modulating and / or demodulating a voice and transmitting and receiving a voice signal when making a call. A first process of transmitting a parent signal, which is a signal different from the audio signal, to the other portable communication device using a communication function of the communication unit; and a condition that the transmitted parent signal is received. As a second process of inputting a child signal that is a signal different from the audio signal transmitted from the other portable communication device, and confirming whether or not the child signal has been received, the reception of the child signal has not been confirmed A parent program that executes each process of a third process of performing a predetermined notification by assuming that the communication status with the other portable communication device is incapable of communication when a call is not made When Wherein the parent for program is run at different intervals than said predetermined interval the processing for transmitting the other of said child signals to check for the reception of the portable communication device the transmitted parent signal The execution of the parent program is started independently of the execution of the parent program, and the predetermined interval at which the parent program is executed is a predetermined number of times that the number of executions of the parent program after the start of the parent program is predetermined. A portable communication device set at intervals such that the parent program and the child program are executed simultaneously within