JP4510065B2 - Mobile phone - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention provides a first communication means for transmitting / receiving a radio signal to / from a base station, and a second communication for transmitting / receiving a radio signal to / from an in-vehicle apparatus having a hands-free call function by short-range wireless communication. The present invention relates to a mobile phone provided with means.

  As is well known, in recent years, mobile phones using the PDC (Personal Digital Cellular) system and simplified mobile phones using the PHS (Personal Handyphone System) system are rapidly spreading.

  By the way, as shown in FIG. 10, these mobile communication terminals transfer voice or data over a communication channel and a call control control serial signal line corresponding to RS-232C as an external port in the lower part of the main body 20 or the like. A wired external interface connector 21 composed of a communication CH signal line or the like is provided to enable voice and data communication from an external terminal such as a personal computer 23.

  For example, if an in-vehicle device 22 incorporating an external antenna or a booster amplifier and a mobile communication terminal are connected via the external interface connector 21, a voice call using the hands-free function of the in-vehicle device 22 is possible.

  If the personal computer 23 is connected to the mobile communication terminal via the external interface connector 21 as an external terminal, data communication by the personal computer 23 can be performed.

  Data communication using such mobile communication terminals is an application field that is expanding as so-called “mobile computing”. However, since the speed of data communication is increasing, The communication speed of about several Kbps is becoming a limit.

  Moreover, in the wired external interface, it is necessary to carry a connection cable between the mobile communication terminal and the external terminal, resulting in inconvenience such as poor usability. Further, the connection connector of the external interface is very small and thin, but there are problems such as damage to the contact surface due to insertion and removal of the cable.

  Considering the above circumstances, from the viewpoint of improving communication speed, cable-less, user convenience, etc., the introduction of infrared communication as an interface between a mobile communication terminal and an external terminal such as a personal computer has been studied. It has been.

  Infrared communication is being standardized by IrDA (Infrared Data Association), and there is a high possibility that infrared will be introduced into the external interface of mobile communication terminals.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the mobile communication terminal 10 with an infrared port includes an infrared transmission / reception window 11, and the in-vehicle device 13 having the infrared port 12 and the infrared port 15 of the personal computer 14 face each other, Communication between the mobile communication terminal 10 and the external terminal can be performed by high-speed infrared communication of 115 Kbps or more.

As an apparatus for performing infrared communication, for example, a device disclosed in Patent Document 1 is known.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 09-83443

  Infrared interfaces are already installed as standard for external communication ports such as personal computers and PDAs, and in the future, the standardization of procedures for making and receiving calls and voice / data transfer procedures with mobile communication terminals will progress. It is.

  The infrared interface is premised on placing both the mobile communication terminal and the external terminal within a predetermined line-of-sight range. This is because the distance of infrared communication varies depending on the transmission power and emission width of both infrared transmitters, the light receiving characteristics and transmission speed of the infrared receiver, and the like. In this case, increasing the transmission power and the light receiving sensitivity increases the communication distance, but it is not desirable for a mobile communication terminal that operates on a battery.

  Therefore, during infrared communication, it is necessary to pay attention when fixing so that the installation positions and directions of both terminals do not shift. If the position and direction of both terminals shift beyond the allowable values during communication, there will be no problem in communication between the mobile communication terminal and the network side via the air interface. If the data is disconnected, the other party's terminal becomes silent or noisy, and the other party feels uncomfortable, or in the case of data communication, errors occur frequently, and in this state, invalid communication occurs for a long time. There is a problem of end.

  The present invention solves the above-described problem, and switches to an operation mode in which a call can be made with a base station when the short-distance wireless communication is interrupted when the mobile phone is in communication with the in-vehicle device by short-range wireless communication. An object of the present invention is to provide a mobile communication terminal device that can continue a communication state and prevent invalid communication in a blocked state.

  In order to achieve the above object, the invention of claim 1 is directed to a first communication means for transmitting / receiving a radio signal to / from a base station, an in-vehicle device having a hands-free call function by short-range wireless communication, and a radio In a mobile phone comprising a second communication means for transmitting and receiving signals, the first communication means and the second communication means can be used to perform a hands-free call using the in-vehicle device. Mode switching means for switching between a first communication mode and a second communication mode that enables a telephone call using the mobile phone in an area where communication with the base station is possible using the first communication means; The mode switching means is controlled in response to receiving a signal repeatedly transmitted by the in-vehicle device via the second communication means to change the communication mode from the second communication mode to the first communication mode. A communication control means for switching to a mode and establishing a wireless link with the in-vehicle apparatus via the second communication means to enable a hands-free call using the in-vehicle apparatus; and the second communication Monitoring means for monitoring a state of a wireless link established between the communication means and the in-vehicle device, and when the monitoring means is in the first communication mode, the wireless link with the in-vehicle device is blocked. When detected, the communication control means controls the mode switching means to switch the communication mode from the first communication mode to the second communication mode.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the monitoring unit detects a polling signal periodically transmitted from the in-vehicle device via a wireless link established with the in-vehicle device. It is characterized by detecting the disconnection of the wireless link by not being performed.
The invention according to claim 3 is the monitoring means according to the invention according to claim 1, wherein the first switching mode is set by the mode switching means and a hands-free call using the in-vehicle device is performed. Switches from the first communication mode to the second communication mode in response to detecting the disconnection of the wireless link, the communication control means uses its own mobile phone from a hands-free call using the in-vehicle device. It is characterized by continuing the call by switching to the call.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the wireless signal transmitted / received to / from the base station and the wireless signal transmitted / received to / from the in-vehicle device are performed by different communication methods. It is characterized by being.

  According to the present invention, even when the short-range wireless communication link with the in-vehicle device is temporarily interrupted, the communication state with the other party can be cascaded, and the communication channel is wasted in the blocked state. It can be prevented from being occupied.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of a cellular phone according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a mobile communication terminal according to the present invention. A mobile communication terminal 100 to which the present invention is applied includes a microcomputer (CPU) 30 as a core, a read-only memory (ROM) in which a program for controlling the entire system is stored on a control bus of the CPU 30, and a readable / writable memory (RAM). ) 31, a baseband unit 32 for performing arrival / departure control from the CPU 30, multiplexing / separation of voice codes, speed / signal conversion, a radio unit 33 for transmitting / receiving radio signals to / from a network (base station) through a predetermined air interface, and an LCD 41 And a man-machine interface (MMI) 34 having a dial key 42, a voice codec 35 for A / D conversion of analog voice signals with a microphone / speaker for sending / receiving voices, and an infrared controller 36 for sending / receiving infrared signals to / from an external terminal Composed.

  The CPU 30 controls the first transfer control process for controlling the transfer of the call control signal and voice or data on the infrared link, and the call control and the voice or data transfer from the first transfer control process to the air interface. Second transfer control processing and mode switching for displaying a warning message on the LCD 41 or the like when the infrared controller 36 detects a failure of the infrared link and switching the voice or data transfer to the air interface to a preset operation mode Has processing.

  In the above configuration, an infrared communication procedure with an external terminal such as a personal computer will be described with reference to FIGS. Note that the details of the infrared communication procedure conform to a standard such as IrDA, but an outline thereof will be described here.

  In general, in infrared communication, when the same wavelength band is used, transmission and reception cannot be performed at the same time. Therefore, either one is a primary station and the other is a secondary station, and all the secondary stations respond by polling from the primary station. Control signal and voice / data information are sent and received alternately.

  The control signal between the external terminal such as a personal computer and the mobile communication terminal 100 of the present invention is composed of an infrared reception signal 37 at the light receiving element of the infrared controller 36 and an infrared transmission signal 38 at the light emitting element. It is transmitted and received like a time chart.

1) Infrared link establishment The external terminal which is the primary station repeatedly transmits a connection request signal for a predetermined time, and when the mobile communication terminal of the secondary station receives it, the mobile communication terminal 100 transmits a connection confirmation, and the infrared communication link Establish.

2) Infrared link monitoring After the establishment of the infrared link, in the idle period in which neither control signal nor communication information exists in both sides, an inquiry is sent from the primary station to the secondary station at a predetermined cycle, and a confirmation signal is received. Both monitor that the infrared link is normal.

3) Origination control signal When the external terminal sends an origination request (off-hook) and a dial signal according to the procedure shown in FIG. 2, the mobile communication terminal 100 calls the base station (network side) via the air interface control channel. Send and receive control signals and assign communication channels.

  Voice and data communication signals between the external terminal and the main body are transmitted and received as shown in the time chart of FIG. 3 by an infrared reception signal 37 at the light receiving element of the infrared controller 36 and an infrared transmission signal 38 at the light emitting element.

1) Upstream audio signals (# U0, # U1...) From the external terminal to the mobile communication terminal 100 are digitized by a predetermined audio encoding method at the external terminal, and the transmission cycle of the communication channel of the air interface (for example, 20 ms) and is received outside the mobile communication terminal 100 in a unit consistent with the amount of information per 20 ms).

2) The reception signal from the communication channel of the air interface is transmitted to the external terminal as a downlink voice signal (#DO, #Dl...) From the mobile communication terminal 100 to the external terminal in alignment with the reception cycle (for example, 20 ms). To do.

3) When the encoding method of the digital voice transmitted / received by the air interface is different between the external terminal and the mobile communication terminal 100, the code conversion is performed by the voice codec 35 built in the mobile communication terminal 100.

  Note that the time chart of the communication channel on the air interface in FIG. 3 is described in the case of PDC 3-slot multiplexing. The voice codec 35 is composed of a DSP (3 slots in a cycle of 20 ms), and by switching its signal processing program, the analog voice from the transmitter is encoded in the air interface (for example, VSELP system) when operating alone. For example, an ADPCM speech code is converted to the VSELP format when operating in an external terminal.

  FIG. 4 shows an infrared communication procedure between the external terminal and the mobile communication terminal 100 shown in FIG. 2, a transmission procedure sequence on the air interface control channel from the external terminal via the mobile communication terminal 100, and FIG. 2 shows a sequence of voice communication on the air interface communication channel from the external terminal via the mobile communication terminal 100.

  In FIG. 4, when an external terminal which is a primary station repeatedly transmits a connection request signal for a predetermined time, the mobile communication terminal 100 of the secondary station receives this signal, and the mobile communication terminal 100 transmits a connection confirmation, an infrared communication link Is established.

  After the infrared link is established, in the idle period when neither the control signal nor the communication information is present, the inquiry is sent from the primary station to the secondary station at a predetermined cycle, and the confirmation signal is received. Monitor that is normal.

  When the external terminal sends a call request (off-hook) and a dial signal, the mobile communication terminal 100 transmits a confirmation signal in response to these signals and communicates with the base station (network side) via the control channel of the air interface. Call control signals such as call setting signals and response signals are transmitted to and received from the base station, and the base station assigns communication channels. Thereafter, a communication state is established between the external terminal and the base station via the mobile communication terminal 100, and voice or data is transmitted / received.

  As an external terminal for performing voice transfer, not only the in-vehicle device as shown in FIG. 9 but also a voice call using a microphone / speaker built in a personal computer using voice application software of a personal computer, or application software A device capable of making a call such as voice mail or voice recognition / synthesis is also applicable.

  Next, an operation when the direction or position of the external terminal or the mobile communication terminal 100 is shifted during communication or the like and both infrared signal transmission / reception becomes impossible from the infrared transmission / reception port will be described.

  When infrared transmission / reception becomes impossible, the primary station cannot receive a response from the other party for polling. On the other hand, the secondary station cannot receive polling from the primary station for a predetermined time or longer. If this continues for a certain time, it is called blocking. For example, in the case of a transmission error, it is recovered by the next polling, but in the case of interruption, the state continues until the cause disappears.

  During communication, both the external terminal and the mobile communication terminal 100 cannot transmit and receive voice by infrared rays, and both the uplink and the downlink are in a state of continuously transmitting a silence signal generally from the mobile communication terminal 100 on the air interface communication channel. Become.

  In the first embodiment of the present invention, when infrared blocking is detected on the infrared link, a warning sound is generated from the receiver / speaker of the mobile communication terminal 100 as necessary, and a warning message is displayed on the LCD 41. . At this time, as shown in FIG. 5, the VOX procedure from the mobile communication terminal 100 to the network side is automatically activated, and the voice transfer to the air interface is switched to the VOX ON mode. At this time, voice transmission to the communication channel is set to a predetermined silence pattern. When the interruption of the infrared link is recovered, a procedure for automatically switching to the VOX OFF mode is started.

  As a result, even when the infrared link is in the blocked state, the air interface side maintains communication, while suppressing the transmission power of the air interface that consumes particularly large power, and performs battery saving. Needless to say, if the call before the interruption of the infrared link is in the VOX ON state, that state is maintained and the VOX ON / OFF procedure is not started.

  In the second embodiment of the present invention, when the infrared ray block is detected on the infrared link, a warning sound is generated from the receiver / speaker of the mobile communication terminal 100 as necessary, and a warning message is displayed on the LCD 41. Let At this time, as shown in FIG. 6, the voice communication path from the external terminal is automatically switched to the transmitter built in the mobile communication terminal 100 to transmit / receive voice to / from the communication channel of the air interface, and to talk with the other party. Continue. Further, when the interruption of the infrared link is recovered, the voice communication state at the external terminal is automatically restored from the communication path of the mobile communication terminal 100. This operation is also effective as a function for switching the call from the call on the in-vehicle device to the mobile communication terminal 100 by switching the infrared link and without key operation.

  In the third embodiment of the present invention, when an infrared cut-off is detected on the infrared link, the mobile communication terminal 100 is automatically set to a hold state as shown in FIG. 7 until the infrared link is restored. During the period, the mobile communication terminal 100 sends a hold sound to the upstream communication channel of the air interface and allows the other party to listen, thereby continuing the call. In this case, not only the hold operation of the main body but also the hold service of the network additional service may be activated. In FIG. 7, a broken line hold request and hold release for the network are shown.

  This activates the call hold procedure when the infrared link is interrupted, automatically sets the communication channel to the hold state, and when the infrared link is restored, the hold is automatically released and the call on the external terminal resumes. be able to. Note that the communication channel may be automatically disconnected / released by the mobile terminal main body from the on-hold state when the infrared link cut-off time / hold time has exceeded a predetermined time.

  In the fourth embodiment of the present invention, when the interruption of infrared rays is detected on the infrared link, instead of the holding operation of the mobile communication terminal 100 in FIG. Record the other party's voice while you cannot talk to the terminal. If the other party disconnects after answering, you can listen to the message, and if the infrared link recovers during answering, you can cancel the answering and resume voice calls on the external terminal. It becomes possible.

  In the fifth embodiment of the present invention, when the interruption of the infrared ray is detected on the infrared link, the call disconnection procedure is automatically activated from the mobile communication terminal 100 to the network side as shown in FIG. The communication channel is temporarily disconnected / released. Thereafter, when the infrared link returns to normal within a predetermined period, the call is automatically resumed by activating an automatic reconnection procedure for the other party of the blocked call. At the start of automatic reconnection, the user can be warned of the start of reconnection with an alarm sound, display, etc., and can be started when there is no prohibition operation, or vice versa.

In the sixth embodiment of the present invention, when infrared blocking is detected on the infrared link, a procedure for transferring a call to the answering machine instead of the hold request from the mobile communication terminal 100 to the network side shown in FIG. The communication partner terminal continues the call with the answering machine on the network. In this case, the call may be automatically transferred not only to the answering machine on the network but also to a preset third party.

  By the way, in the said embodiment, although the operation mode at the time of interruption | blocking of an infrared link was demonstrated one by one, you may have it combining this and a user may select, the function which the mobile communication terminal 100 has, It can also be set according to the network service.

  Moreover, although the case of the voice call was described in the said embodiment, this is not restricted to a voice call, It can also apply to non-call communication, such as data communication and FAX communication. In case of non-telephone communication, it is not possible to record to the yearbook function, etc., but when the infrared link is interrupted to the other party, the mobile unit itself automatically sends a communication channel reception not ready, and when the interruption is restored, the reception ready signal is automatically You can set hold like sending, and automatic disconnection / reconnection is also effective by blocking.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, after detecting the interruption | blocking state of an infrared link and the mobile communication terminal 100 enters into the preset operation mode, about the case where the operation mode is continued for the period when the interruption | blocking of an infrared link is continuing. As explained above, if the interruption period continues for a certain time or longer, a warning sound or warning message is displayed, and the VOX ON state or the hold state is continued by the user's operation, or the disconnection / release procedure is automatically started. You can also do it.

  Further, in the above embodiment, when the infrared link is interrupted, the mobile communication main body enters the preset operation mode. However, the present invention is not limited to the disconnection. For example, even if the infrared link is not interrupted, When an error occurs frequently in the infrared communication, and the voice or data communication is hardly possible, it is possible to enter a preset operation mode until the error state is recovered. That is, the error frequent occurrence state can be treated as the infrared link cut-off state.

The block diagram which shows embodiment of the mobile communication terminal with an infrared port by this invention. The figure which shows the general infrared communication procedure of an external terminal and a mobile communication terminal. The figure which shows the procedure of the audio | voice and data communication of an external terminal and a mobile communication terminal. The figure which shows the infrared communication procedure between an external terminal and a mobile communication terminal, the transmission procedure on the air interface control channel via the mobile communication terminal from an external terminal, and the sequence of the voice communication on an air interface communication channel. The figure which shows the procedure of 1st Embodiment of the operation mode switched when an infrared link is interrupted | blocked. The figure which shows the procedure of 2nd Embodiment of the operation mode switched when an infrared link is interrupted | blocked. The figure which shows the procedure of 3rd Embodiment of the operation mode switched when an infrared link is interrupted | blocked. The figure which shows the procedure of 4th Embodiment of the operation mode switched when an infrared link is interrupted | blocked. The figure which shows the example of the system using a mobile communication terminal with an infrared port. The figure which shows the example of the system using the mobile communication terminal with an external priority interface.

Explanation of symbols

100 Mobile communication terminal 30 CPU
32 Baseband part 33 Radio part 36 Infrared controller

Claims (4)

1st communication means for transmitting / receiving a radio signal between base stations, and 2nd communication means for transmitting / receiving a radio signal with the vehicle-mounted apparatus provided with the hands-free telephone call function by short-distance wireless communication Mobile phone
A first communication mode that enables a hands-free call using the in-vehicle device using the first communication means and the second communication means; and the base station using the first communication means. Mode switching means for switching the second communication mode that enables a call using the mobile phone in an area where communication is possible;
In response to receiving a signal repeatedly transmitted by the in-vehicle device via the second communication means, the mode switching means is controlled to switch the communication mode from the second communication mode to the first communication mode. And a communication control means for establishing a radio link with the in-vehicle device via the second communication means to enable a hands-free call using the in-vehicle device;
Monitoring means for monitoring a state of a radio link established between the second communication means and the in-vehicle device;
When the monitoring means detects the disconnection of the wireless link with the in-vehicle device when in the first communication mode, the communication control means controls the mode switching means to change the communication mode to the first communication mode. The mobile phone is switched to the second communication mode. The monitoring means includes
The wireless link cutoff is detected by detecting that a polling signal periodically transmitted from the in-vehicle device is not detected via a wireless link established with the in-vehicle device. Mobile phone. A first communication mode is set by the mode switching means, and when the hands-free call using the in-vehicle device is being performed, the monitoring means detects the disconnection of the wireless link according to the first detection. When the communication mode is switched to the second communication mode, the communication control unit continues the call by switching from a hands-free call using the in-vehicle device to a call using the mobile phone. Item 2. The mobile phone according to Item 1. The mobile phone according to claim 1, wherein a radio signal transmitted / received to / from the base station and a radio signal transmitted / received to / from the in-vehicle device are performed by different communication methods.

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