JP7695137B2 - Electronic device and control method thereof - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to electronic devices and control methods thereof, and in particular to electronic devices that use power obtained from radio waves and control methods thereof.

Technology for supplying power using radio waves is known. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a system in which microwaves transmitted from space are received on the ground and converted into electricity.

JP 2012-23857 A

In the system disclosed in Patent Document 1, microwaves of a specific wavelength are transmitted (radiated) toward a specific location on the ground and received by a device installed at a specific location on the ground. Therefore, the fluctuation in the power received by the device is relatively small.

However, for example, when trying to use power obtained from radio waves in a portable electronic device, if the amount of radio waves emitted by communication devices in the environment is small, the power consumed to obtain power from the radio waves will be greater than the power that can be obtained from the radio waves.

The object of the present invention is to provide an electronic device and a control method thereof that can obtain power stably and efficiently even when the amount of radio waves present in the environment is low.

The above-mentioned object is achieved by an electronic device having an antenna, a conversion circuit that converts radio waves received through the antenna into electric power, a detection means that detects electric power for each of a plurality of channels that can be used for communication with an external device that can communicate through the antenna, a selection means that selects one or more channels from the plurality of channels based on the detected electric power for each of the plurality of channels, and a transmission means that transmits a channel setting request including information about the selected one or more channels to the external device.

The present invention provides an electronic device and a control method thereof that can obtain power stably and efficiently even when the amount of radio waves present in the environment is low.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a wireless network including electronic devices according to an embodiment of the present invention. A flowchart of the operation of an electronic device and a wireless relay device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a measurement result of the amount of power in the embodiment of the present invention. 11 is a flowchart showing the operation of an electronic device and a wireless relay device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the relationship between the remaining battery charge and the amount of power required for charging, which is used in the second embodiment;

The present invention will be described in detail below based on an exemplary embodiment with reference to the attached drawings. Note that the following embodiment does not limit the invention according to the claims. In addition, although multiple features are described in the embodiment, not all of them are necessarily essential to the invention, and multiple features may be combined in any manner. Furthermore, in the attached drawings, the same reference numbers are used for the same or similar configurations, and duplicate explanations are omitted.

The present invention can be implemented in any electronic device capable of receiving radio waves. Such electronic devices include video cameras, computer devices (personal computers, tablet computers, media players, PDAs, etc.), mobile phones, smartphones, game consoles, robots, drones, and drive recorders. These are merely examples, and the present invention can also be implemented in other electronic devices.

● (First embodiment)
Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of an electronic device 100 capable of implementing the present invention. The electronic device 100 is assumed to be a portable device such as a digital camera or a smartphone. Fig. 1 shows the configuration of the electronic device 100 that is related to the implementation of the present invention. For example, configurations such as an image sensor and a photographing optical system that exist when the electronic device 100 is a digital camera are not shown in Fig. 1.

The electronic device 100 has a main control unit 101 and a sub-control unit 102. The main control unit 101 and the sub-control unit 102 can communicate with each other, and both control the operation of the electronic device 100. For example, the sub-control unit 102 consumes less power than the main control unit 101. The main control unit 101 and the sub-control unit 102 each have one or more processors, a non-volatile memory (ROM), and a volatile memory (RAM). The main control unit 101 and the sub-control unit 102 control the operation of the electronic device 100 by loading a program stored in the ROM into the RAM and executing it on the processor. The sub-control unit 102 can operate, for example, even when the electronic device 100 is powered off or in a sleep state.

The memory unit 103 is a storage device such as a non-volatile memory, HDD, or SSD, and is accessible by the main control unit 101. The memory unit 103 can store, for example, an operating system, user data, GUI data, application programs, and the like.

The power switch 104 is a switch for turning the power of the electronic device 100 ON/OFF. The main battery 120 is the main power source of the electronic device 100. The auxiliary battery 121 is a secondary power source of the electronic device 100, and has a smaller capacity than the main battery 120. For example, the auxiliary battery 121 has a smaller range of power supply than the main battery 120. Both the main battery 120 and the auxiliary battery 121 are secondary batteries that can be removed from the electronic device 100, and are, for example, lithium ion batteries or nickel-metal hydride batteries. When the power switch 104 is OFF or when the electronic device 100 is in a sleep state, the main battery 120 does not supply power, and only the auxiliary battery 121 supplies power. The power of the main battery 120 is supplied to both the main control unit 101 and the sub-control unit 102. Also, the power of the auxiliary battery 121 is supplied to the sub-control unit 102, but not to the main control unit 101.

The battery detection unit 122 detects the presence or absence of the main battery 120, the remaining battery power, etc. The battery detection unit 123 detects the presence or absence of the auxiliary battery 121, the remaining battery power, etc. The power supply control unit 124 controls the supply of power from the main battery 120 to the main control unit 101, the sub-control unit 102, the memory unit 103, and the wireless communication control units 150 to 153.

The power receiving control unit 125 controls the supply of power obtained from radio waves received by the antennas 175-177. In this embodiment, the power obtained from the radio waves is used, for example, to charge the main battery 120 and the auxiliary battery 121, and to drive the sub-control unit 102 and the wireless communication control unit 151. The power receiving detection unit 126 detects the amount of power supplied to the power receiving control unit 125 (the amount of power obtained from the received radio waves), etc. The power receiving detection unit 126 notifies the main control unit 101 and the sub-control unit 102 of the detected amount of power.

In this embodiment, electronic device 100 is capable of wireless communication conforming to four different standards, and has four wireless communication control units (communication means) 150 to 153, each of which corresponds to a different standard.
Both the wireless communication control units 150 and 151 use radio waves in the 2.4 GHz band, and are connected to the same antenna 175. For example, the wireless communication control unit 150 supports communication in accordance with a wireless LAN standard such as IEEE802.11g. The wireless communication control unit 151 supports communication in accordance with a wireless communication standard (e.g., Bluetooth (registered trademark)) that consumes less power and has a narrower communication range than the wireless communication control unit 150. The wireless communication control unit 151 can be driven by the power of the auxiliary battery 121, but the wireless communication control unit 150 cannot be driven by the auxiliary battery 121. Therefore, the wireless communication control unit 151 can communicate with peripheral devices even when the electronic device 100 is in a power-off state or a sleep state.

The wireless communication control unit 152 supports communication conforming to a wireless communication standard using radio waves in the 5 GHz band, such as IEEE802.11ac.
The wireless communication control unit 153 supports communication in accordance with a wireless communication standard that uses radio waves in the 28 GHz band, such as the 5G standard.

Note that the wireless communication standards supported by the wireless communication control units 150 to 153 are merely examples. The electronic device 100 only needs to be capable of receiving radio waves of multiple frequencies, and does not necessarily need to be configured to transmit radio waves. In addition, it is not necessary to use separate antennas for each frequency band.

The rectifier circuits 160 to 162 are examples of conversion circuits that convert signals received through the antennas 175 to 177 into electric power. The rectifier circuits 160 to 162 supply the obtained electric power to the power receiving control unit 125.

The antenna matching circuits 171 to 174 are circuits that match the impedance between the corresponding antennas 175 to 177 and the circuits of the electronic device 100. One of the two antenna matching circuits 171 and 172 is selectively connected to the antenna 175 through the switching circuit 165. The antenna matching circuits 171 and 172 match the impedance for different frequencies within the frequency band that the antenna 175 can receive. The operation of the switching circuit 165 is controlled by the sub-control unit 102.

The input filter circuits 168 to 170 are, for example, bandpass filters that pass signals of the frequencies used for communication.

The switching circuit 163 selects one of the wireless communication control units 150 and 151. The switching circuit 164 selectively connects the rectifier circuit 160 or the wireless communication control unit 150 or 151 selected by the switching circuit 163 to the input filter circuit 169. The switching circuit 166 selectively connects one of the rectifier circuit 161 and the wireless communication control unit 152 to the input filter circuit 169. The switching circuit 167 selectively connects one of the rectifier circuit 162 and the wireless communication control unit 153 to the input filter circuit 170. The operations of the switching circuits 163, 164, 166, and 167 are controlled by the main control unit 101.

In addition, the electronic device 100 of this embodiment exclusively connects the wireless communication control unit and the rectifier circuit to the antenna using a switching circuit. Therefore, while the wireless communication control unit is communicating with an external device, no signal is input to the rectifier circuit, and the rectifier circuit cannot obtain power. However, a signal received from an external device while the wireless communication control unit is communicating may be input to the rectifier circuit in addition to the wireless communication control unit to obtain power.

Figure 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a wireless network 300 including an electronic device 100 and a wireless relay device 200. The wireless relay device 200 is an example of an external device that can communicate with the electronic device 100 through an antenna. The wireless relay device 200 is, for example, an access point that complies with the wireless LAN standard, and controls the frequency channel used for communication within the wireless network 300. The electronic device 100 and the wireless relay device 200 establish a wireless connection using the frequency channel controlled by the wireless relay device 200. The electronic device 100 controls the switching circuits 163, 164, and 165 to connect the antenna 175 and the wireless communication control unit 150 to communicate with the wireless relay device 200 using the wireless communication control unit 150 that supports the wireless LAN standard.

Figure 3 is a flowchart related to the operation of electronic device 100 and wireless relay device 200 in wireless network 300 shown in Figure 2. Here, it is assumed that the operation shown in Figure 3 is started in response to detection of an instruction to turn electronic device 100 to a power OFF state when a wireless connection is established between electronic device 100 and wireless relay device 200. Note that the instruction to turn electronic device 100 to a power OFF state may be the power switch 104 being turned to the OFF state by a user operation.

In S401, when the sub-control unit 102 detects that the power switch 104 is in the OFF state, it notifies the main control unit 101.

At S402, the main control unit 101 controls the wireless communication control unit 150 to transmit a request to transmit a wireless radio wave measurement packet to the connected wireless relay device 200. The wireless radio wave measurement packet is a packet that the electronic device 100 uses to measure the reception strength of radio waves, and is transmitted from the wireless relay device 200.

In S403, the main control unit 101 controls the receiving circuit to be connected to the antenna 175 in order to measure the receiving strength of the receiving strength measurement packet. In other words, the main control unit 101 controls the switching circuit 164 to connect the output of the input filter circuit to the rectifier circuit 160 in order to measure the power as the receiving strength in the power receiving control unit 125.

In S404, when the wireless relay device 200 receives a request to send a wireless radio wave measurement packet from the electronic device 100, it sets the frequency channel of the wireless network based on the wireless radio wave measurement sequence.

In S405, the wireless relay device 200 transmits a wireless radio wave measurement packet to the electronic device 100. In the wireless radio wave measurement sequence, the wireless radio wave measurement packets are transmitted for each frequency channel in a predetermined order and at a predetermined time interval. For example, when frequency channels 1 to 11 are set, wireless radio wave measurement packets are transmitted for frequency channels 1 to 11 at intervals of 5 ms for 30 ms per channel. It is preferable that the frequency channel for wireless radio wave measurement is selected from among the frequency channels that can be set by the wireless relay device 200, and that all the frequency channels that can be set are measured. Note that the packet transmission interval and packet transmission time for each frequency channel are merely examples, and any value can be set within the settable range.

At S406, the electronic device 100 receives the signal of the wireless radio wave measurement packet through the antenna 175 and converts it into power in the rectifier circuit 160.

In S407, the power receiving detection unit 126 detects the amount of power obtained from the wireless radio wave measurement packet. The power receiving detection unit 126 notifies the main control unit 101 of information on the detected amount of power. The main control unit 101 stores the information on the amount of power in the memory unit 103. An example of the information on the amount of power stored in the memory unit 103 is shown in FIG. 4. As shown in FIG. 4, information indicating the amount of power detected for each frequency channel set by the wireless relay device 200 can be stored. Note that the information on the amount of power may be any value based on the amount of power detected.

In S408, the main control unit 101 determines whether or not the measurement of the reception strength (here, the amount of power) has been completed for all frequency channels predetermined in the radio wave measurement sequence. If the main control unit 101 determines that the measurement has been completed, it executes S410. On the other hand, if it determines that the measurement has not been completed, the main control unit 101 executes S406 and S407, and performs measurement on unmeasured frequency channels.

In S409, the wireless relay device 200 determines whether or not wireless radio wave measurement packets have been transmitted for all frequency channels predetermined in the wireless radio wave measurement sequence. If it is determined that packets have been transmitted for all frequency channels, the wireless relay device 200 executes S414. On the other hand, if it is not determined that packets have been transmitted for all frequency channels, the wireless relay device 200 executes S404 and S405, and continues changing the frequency channel and transmitting packets.

In S410, the main control unit 101 controls the switching circuit 164 to connect the output of the input filter circuit 168 to the switching circuit 163 in order to communicate with the wireless relay device 200 via the wireless communication control unit 150. This connects the communication circuit (wireless communication control unit 150) to the antenna 175.

In S411, the main control unit 101 refers to the memory unit 103 and selects a frequency channel that satisfies at least one of the following: the detected amount of power is equal to or greater than a threshold value, or is the maximum. The threshold value may be, for example, a value corresponding to the amount of power required for a predetermined purpose (e.g., charging one or more of the main battery 120 and the auxiliary battery 121). For example, if the threshold value is set to 80, in the example shown in FIG. 4, channel 1 that provides the maximum amount of power that is equal to or greater than the threshold value is selected. The main control unit 101 then controls the wireless communication control unit 150 to transmit a channel setting request including information about frequency channel 1 for communication on the wireless network 300 to the wireless relay device 200.

Note that if there are multiple frequency channels with the highest detected power amount, or if there are multiple frequency channels with the detected power amount equal to or greater than a threshold, information on these multiple frequency channels may be included in the channel setting request.

In S412, when the wireless relay device 200 receives a channel setting request from the electronic device 100, the wireless relay device 200 changes the setting to use the frequency channel included in the channel setting request. If the channel setting request includes information on multiple frequency channels, the wireless relay device 200 can be set to use one of the multiple frequency channels. The wireless relay device 200 may dynamically change the frequency channel to be used for communication from among the multiple frequency channels whose information is included in the channel setting request.

In S413, the main control unit 101 controls the switching circuit 164 to connect the output of the input filter circuit 168 to the rectifier circuit 160 in order to obtain power from the radio waves received by the antenna 175. This connects the power receiving circuit (rectifier circuit 160) to the antenna 175.

In S414, the main control unit 101 stops the power supply from the main battery 120 and puts the electronic device 100 into a power-off state. In the power-off state, power is supplied to some components from the auxiliary battery 121 in order to maintain the minimum necessary functions of the wireless communication control unit 151 even in the power-off state.

As described above, according to this embodiment, a frequency channel that satisfies a condition for the amount of obtainable power among multiple frequency channels that can be used for wireless communication is detected, and an external device is requested to use the detected frequency channel. Therefore, even when the amount of radio waves present in the environment is small, it is possible to provide an electronic device and a control method thereof that can obtain power stably and efficiently.

In addition, when an instruction to turn off the power to the electronic device is detected, a frequency channel that satisfies the conditions is detected and a setting request is made to the external device before the power supply from the main power source (main battery 120) is stopped in response to the instruction. This allows power to be obtained efficiently in the power-off state, and can be used for, for example, charging the battery.

(Second embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. Since this embodiment can be implemented by the electronic device 100 described in the first embodiment, a description of the configuration of the electronic device 100 will be omitted.

Figure 5 is a flowchart related to the operation of electronic device 100 and wireless relay device 200 in wireless network 300 shown in Figure 2. Here, it is assumed that the operation shown in Figure 5 is started in response to detection of an instruction to turn electronic device 100 into a power OFF state when a wireless connection is established between electronic device 100 and wireless relay device 200. In Figure 5, the steps that perform the same operations as in the first embodiment are given the same reference symbols as in Figure 3, and their description will be omitted.

S401 to S410 are as described in the first embodiment.
In S<b>511 , the main control unit 101 acquires the remaining charge of the main battery 120 detected by the battery detection unit 122 and the remaining charge of the auxiliary battery 121 detected by the battery detection unit 123 via the sub-control unit 102 , and stores them in the memory unit 103 .

The battery whose remaining charge is detected here is a battery that is charged with power obtained from the received radio waves. Therefore, when either the main battery 120 or the auxiliary battery 121 is charged with power obtained from the received radio waves, the remaining charge may be obtained in S511 only for the battery to be charged. As an example, it is assumed here that the auxiliary battery 121 is charged with power obtained from the received radio waves, and the main battery 120 is not charged.

In S512, the main control unit 101 selects a frequency channel based on the information on the amount of power for each frequency channel stored in the memory unit 103 and the remaining battery level acquired in S511.

The main control unit 101 can calculate the power required for charging, for example, from the relationship between the remaining battery charge of the auxiliary battery 121 and the power required for charging the auxiliary battery 121, and select a frequency channel that can obtain the power required for charging.

Figure 6 is a diagram showing an example of the relationship between the remaining battery level of the auxiliary battery 121 and the power required to charge the auxiliary battery 121, which is stored in advance, for example, in the memory unit 103. In this way, the power required for charging varies depending on the remaining battery level, and the lower the remaining level, the greater the power required for charging. For example, when the remaining battery level of the auxiliary battery 121 is 50%, the amount of power required for charging is 70. Note that the power shown in Figure 6 and the amount of power shown in Figure 4 are assumed to be the same value. Therefore, the main control unit 101 can select a frequency channel that provides an amount of power equal to or greater than the threshold value, using the amount of power required for charging according to the remaining battery level as a threshold value. Therefore, in the example of Figure 4, frequency channels 1 to 6 can be selected.

Then, the main control unit 101 controls the wireless communication control unit 150 to send a channel setting request to the wireless relay device 200, requesting that one of frequency channels 1 to 6 be used for communication on the wireless network 300.

In S513, when the wireless relay device 200 receives the channel setting request from the electronic device 100, the wireless relay device 200 changes the setting to use the requested frequency channel. If the channel setting request includes multiple frequency channels, the wireless relay device 200 can dynamically set one of the multiple frequency channels. For example, the wireless relay device 200 may set the frequency channel with the highest communication rate among the requested frequency channels.
The processes from S413 onwards are similar to those in the first embodiment, and therefore the description thereof will be omitted.

This embodiment also provides the same effects as the first embodiment. Furthermore, a frequency channel capable of acquiring the amount of power required for an application is detected, and an external device is requested to use the detected frequency channel. Therefore, even when the amount of radio waves present in the environment is small, it is possible to provide an electronic device and a control method thereof that can stably and efficiently acquire power that can be used for the intended application.

Other Embodiments
In the above embodiment, the wireless network 300 in which the wireless relay device 200 with which communication by the wireless communication control unit 150 is possible exists has been described. However, the above embodiment may be executed between the wireless communication control units 152 and 153 and an external device with which communication is possible. When there are multiple frequency channels that can be used for communication with the external device, the power obtained for each frequency channel is detected, one or more frequency channels with which power satisfying a condition can be obtained are selected, and the external device is requested to use one of the selected frequency channels.

The present invention can also be realized by supplying a program that realizes one or more of the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or device via a network or storage medium, and having one or more processors in the computer of the system or device read and execute the program. It can also be realized by a circuit (e.g., an ASIC) that realizes one or more functions.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and variations are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, the following claims are appended to clarify the scope of the invention.

100...electronic device, 101...main control unit, 102...sub-control unit, 121...secondary battery, 126...power receiving detection unit, 150, 151, 152, 153...wireless communication control unit, 175, 176, 177...antenna

Claims (10)

The antenna,
A conversion circuit for converting the radio waves received through the antenna into electric power;
a detection means for detecting the power for each of a plurality of channels that can be used for communication with an external device that can communicate through the antenna;
a selection means for selecting one or more channels from the plurality of channels based on the detected power for each of the plurality of channels;
a transmitting means for transmitting a channel setting request including information on the selected one or more channels to the external device;
1. An electronic device comprising: The electronic device according to claim 1, characterized in that the selection means selects one or more channels that satisfy at least one of the following: the power is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, and the power is at a maximum. a battery for supplying power to the electronic device;
and a detection means for detecting a remaining charge of the battery.
the selection means selects one or more channels from the plurality of channels based on the power and the remaining capacity.
3. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the first and second electrodes are electrically connected to the first and second electrodes. The electronic device according to claim 3, characterized in that the selection means selects, from the plurality of channels, one or more channels that can obtain power according to the remaining capacity. The electronic device according to claim 4, characterized in that the power according to the remaining capacity is the power required to charge the battery. The transmitting means transmits to the external device a request for transmitting data for detecting the power to the external device;
The detection means detects the power of the data transmitted in response to the transmission request.
6. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the first and second electrodes are electrically connected to the first and second electrodes. The electronic device according to claim 6, characterized in that the transmission means transmits the transmission request in response to detecting an instruction to turn off the power of the electronic device. a control unit for turning off the power of the electronic device after the channel setting request is transmitted;
8. The electronic device according to claim 7, wherein, in the power-off state, the power obtained by the conversion circuit is used. A method for controlling an electronic device having an antenna and a conversion circuit that converts radio waves received through the antenna into electric power, comprising the steps of:
a detection step of detecting the power for each of a plurality of channels that can be used for communication with an external device that can communicate through the antenna;
a selection step of selecting one or more channels from the plurality of channels based on the power detected for each of the plurality of channels in the detection step;
a transmitting step of transmitting a channel setting request including information on the one or more channels selected in the selecting step to the external device;
13. A method for controlling an electronic device comprising: A program for causing a computer included in an electronic device to function as each of the means included in the electronic device according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

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