JP2005223711A - Communication system switching method, and mobile communication terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the power consumption of a mobile communication terminal capable of utilizing a plurality of communication systems. <P>SOLUTION: A mobile communication terminal (100) is provided with: a plurality of radio communication parts (10 and 20); and a communication control part (40) for selectively activating the radio communication parts. The communication control part has; a detection means (41) for detecting communication systems available in a present location; a switching means (42) which activates a radio communication part corresponding to an available communication system and executes a first operation mode of activating another radio communication part, in response to detecting unavailability of the communication system by the detection means; a monitor means (43) which monitors a frequency in switching of activation of radio communication parts for a prescribed period in the first operation mode; and a mode confirmation means (44) which asks a user whether a second operation mode of switching activation by user operation should be switched to or not in response to detecting it by the monitor means that the frequency in switching of activation exceeds a prescribed frequency. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a portable communication terminal that can use each system of a plurality of communication methods such as WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) and GSM (Global System for Mobile communications).

Conventionally, there are mobile communication terminals that selectively use a plurality of communication systems according to a communication environment. As a technique related to such a portable communication terminal, for example, there are those described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 described later. The method described in Patent Document 1 automatically switches a plurality of mobile communication services during a call of a wireless terminal, and the method described in Patent Document 2 reduces waveform distortion that occurs in each path. By doing so, communication quality when using a plurality of wireless access methods is improved.
JP 2001-054168 A JP 2003-244027 A

  In each of the above methods, regarding switching of the communication system, switching is automatically performed when the usage status of the terminal satisfies conditions such as a communication area and communication quality. However, for example, when the user moves at the service area end of a certain communication system, and the current usage situation is at the boundary of the condition, the communication environment becomes unstable, so that the terminal is connected between both areas. Switch the system frequently. In that case, there is a possibility that the battery life may be shortened due to an increase in current consumption caused by frequent switching operations.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides a communication system switching method capable of saving power of a mobile communication terminal that can use a plurality of communication systems, and a mobile communication terminal for implementing the method. The purpose is to do.

  In the communication system selection method according to the present invention, a portable communication terminal having a plurality of wireless communication means for using a plurality of different communication systems operates a wireless communication means corresponding to a communication system that can be used at the current location. In the first operation mode in which the other wireless communication means is activated when use of the communication system by the activated wireless communication means is disabled, the operation switching of the wireless communication means in a predetermined period exceeds a predetermined number of times. At this time, the user is asked whether or not it is possible to shift to the second operation mode in which the operation is switched by a user operation.

  A mobile communication terminal according to the present invention includes a plurality of wireless communication units for using a plurality of different communication systems, and a communication control unit for operating a wireless communication unit corresponding to the communication system used at the current location. The communication control unit operates a detection unit for detecting a communication system available at the current location and a wireless communication unit corresponding to the available communication system, and detects the unavailability of the communication system by the detection unit. Switching means for executing a first operation mode for operating another wireless communication unit, monitoring means for monitoring the number of switching operations of the wireless communication unit in a predetermined period of the first operation mode, When the monitoring means detects that the number of operation switching times exceeds a predetermined number, whether or not to shift to the second operation mode in which the operation switching is performed by a user operation is entered. And a mode confirmation means for asking to The.

  According to the present invention, when excessive switching occurs in the first operation mode in which the communication system to be used is automatically switched, confirmation of the transition to the second operation mode in which the system is switched manually is made to the user. Therefore, the operation mode corresponding to the communication environment can be determined by the user's intention. At this time, when the user instructs to shift from the first operation mode to the second operation mode, it is possible to suppress battery consumption due to frequent switching operation of the system.

[Example]
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the mobile communication terminal according to the embodiment. The portable communication terminal 100 according to the embodiment is a so-called dual portable communication terminal that can selectively use two communication systems based on WCDMA and GSM that are well known in the past. As shown in FIG. 1, the mobile communication terminal 100 includes a WCDMA wireless communication unit 10 for performing communication by WCDMA and a GSM wireless communication unit 20 for communication by GSM. A WCDMA wireless unit 11 and a GSM wireless unit 21 that perform wireless communication processing by the communication system; and a WCDMA baseband processing unit 12 and a GSM baseband processing unit 22 that perform baseband conversion processing on signals handled by the wireless units 11 and 21. Have.

  In addition, the mobile communication terminal 100 includes an antenna switching unit 31 that connects the shared antenna 30 for transmitting and receiving a radio signal by WCDMA and GSM to the WCDMA radio communication unit 10 or the GSM radio communication unit 20, and the radio communication units 10 and 20. Are selectively operated, and a memory 50 for storing operation data (to be described later) handled by the control unit 40 is provided. The control unit 40 controls each operation of the LCD display 60 that performs screen display, the key button 70 for input operation, the receiver 80 for outputting the received voice, and the microphone 90 for inputting the transmitted voice. To do.

  The control unit 40 functions as a communication control unit according to the mobile communication terminal of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the control unit 40 analyzes a radio wave condition at the current location and detects whether or not WCDMA and GSM can be used. , A switching means 42 for switching the availability of operation to the WCDMA wireless communication means 10 and the GSM wireless communication means 20, a monitoring means 43 for monitoring a switching operation by the switching means 42 using a timer mechanism 40a for measuring time, and the monitoring And mode confirmation means 44 for inquiring of the user whether or not the operation mode to be described later can be changed based on the monitoring result of the means.

  When the control unit 40 detects that the communication system is “out of range”, that is, cannot be used due to a change in the radio wave condition or the like while the mobile communication terminal 100 is in a standby state where communication is possible, the other communication system In order to switch to the other wireless communication means, power is supplied to the other wireless communication means by the switching means 42 to operate. The mobile communication terminal 100 according to the present embodiment is an automatic switching mode that is a first operation mode for automatically performing such a system switching process and a second operation mode for performing a system switching by a user operation. A fixed mode. In the automatic switching mode, when the number of times of switching during the predetermined period exceeds the threshold value, the user is prompted to shift to the fixed mode in order to suppress battery consumption. The procedure for inquiring the user about whether the mode can be changed will be described later.

  The communication system switching process in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The illustrated data shows, as an example, operation records of the WCDMA wireless communication unit 10 and the GSM wireless communication unit 20 when the mobile communication terminal 100 is used in an area such as Japan where GSM communication service is not provided. . For example, the control unit 40 obtains the record by accumulating the data of the operating status of each of the wireless communication units 10 and 20 in the memory 50 by the monitoring unit 43. In the illustrated example, even if the WCDMA system becomes unusable in the “out of service” state, the other GSM system cannot be used properly, so that a state of returning to WCDMA immediately after switching to GSM is recorded.

  The record in FIG. 2 shows that the switching between WCDMA and GSM occurred twice in the past M minutes (A period) at time I. Further, in the past M minutes (B period) at time point II after that, it becomes difficult to capture WCDMA radio waves due to, for example, the user moving to the end of the WCDMA service area, and the number of switching of the system has increased to 10 times. It has been shown. When switching is monitored, the period may be monitored at a frequency that does not overlap the period, instead of the frequency at which the period partially overlaps, such as the time point I or II point in the figure.

  In the example shown in FIG. 2, when the threshold value of the number of times of switching described above is set to 8, for example, the automatic switching mode is continued from the time point I to the time point II after the period A in which the number of times of switching is 2. Thereafter, at time point II after the B period in which the number of times of switching exceeds the threshold value, the user is notified that the system is frequently switched, and inquires whether or not to shift to the fixed mode. In the case of shifting to the fixed mode, even if the communication system moves to “out of service area”, switching to the other system is not performed unless the user performs a predetermined operation with the key button 70 or the like.

  The communication system used when shifting from the automatic switching mode to the fixed mode may be selected by the user at each transition or may be set in advance so that either one of the systems is adopted. Therefore, it is desirable that the mobile communication terminal 100 recommends a communication system suitable for the communication environment in the current location. In that case, for example, the control unit 40 uses the data shown in FIG. 2 to obtain a cumulative value of operating time during a predetermined period for the WCDMA wireless communication unit 10 and the GSM wireless communication unit 20, and to establish a communication system that has a longer operating time. Prompt the user to use in fixed mode. This is based on the idea that a communication system with a long total operation time during this period is easier to capture radio waves and is suitable for a system to be used at the current location.

  As a specific method, for each of the WCDMA wireless communication means 10 and the GSM wireless communication means 20, the time measurement by the timer mechanism 40a is started together with the start of operation, and the time measurement is stopped when it becomes “out of range”. When the means is operated again by switching the system, the timing is restarted from the count value at the previous stop. With such a method, for example, data as shown in FIG. 3 can be obtained. Here, it can be seen that the cumulative value of the operating time is larger in WCDMA than in GSM during the period B in which system switching frequently occurs in FIG. Therefore, it is determined that WCDMA is easier to capture radio waves, and WCDMA is recommended for the fixed mode.

  The operation of the mobile communication terminal 100 will be described along the flowchart shown in FIG. In the following procedure, the automatic switching mode is set so that WCDMA is preferentially used. For example, when the mobile communication terminal 100 is activated, the control unit operates the WCDMA communication, that is, the WCDMA wireless communication means 10 first. 40 controls.

  In the automatic switching mode (step S1), the control unit 40 of the mobile communication terminal 100 selects and operates the WCDMA wireless communication means 10 by the switching means 42 (step S2), and determines whether or not the WCDMA communication system is “out of range”. That is, the detection means 41 determines whether or not WCDMA can be used. While WCDMA is available (step S3: No), the WCDMA wireless communication means 10 uses the WCDMA communication system.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that WCDMA is “out of range” (step S3: Yes), the control unit 40 sets a preset threshold value for the number of system switching times during a predetermined period based on the data described in FIG. Judge whether or not it exceeds. As a result, when the number of times of switching exceeds the threshold as in the period B in FIG. 2 (step S4: Yes), it is determined that the system has been switched excessively, and the user is prompted to shift to the fixed mode. A screen 5a as shown in FIG. 5 is displayed on the LCD display 60 by the mode confirmation means 44 (step S5).

  The screen 5a notifies that the switching operation between WCDMA and GSM occurs frequently and asks the user whether to use WCDMA in the fixed mode. This is an example in which WCDMA is recommended so as to preferentially recommend WCDMA at the time of transition to the fixed mode, or based on the above-described determination based on the accumulated operating time.

  When the user gives an instruction to shift to the fixed mode on the screen 5a (step S6: Yes), a screen like the same figure / screen 5b indicating that the mode has been shifted to the WCDMA fixed mode is displayed. On the screen 5b shown in the figure, the shift to the fixed mode is notified, and a notification that a manual operation is required to switch to the other GSM. When entering the WCDMA fixed mode, the control unit 40 stops the automatic switching to the GSM wireless communication unit 20 by the selection unit 42 (step S7). Thereby, even if WCDMA intermittently becomes “out of range”, the mobile communication terminal 100 does not switch to the other GSM radio communication unit 20 and continues the operation of the WCDMA radio communication unit 10.

  Even when WCDMA is “out of service”, the number of times of switching still does not exceed the threshold value (step S4: No), or when the user does not want to shift to the fixed mode even if switching frequently occurs (step S6: No). The control unit 40 switches the communication means to be operated to the other GSM wireless communication means 20 (step S8). Then, it is determined by the detecting means 41 whether or not GSM communication is possible, and while it is available (step S9: No), the GSM communication system is used. If GSM is “out of service” (step S9: Yes), the process returns to step 2 for confirming whether or not WCDMA is available.

  As described above, according to the mobile communication terminal 100 of the embodiment, when it is determined that the switching of the communication system to be used frequently occurs in the automatic switching mode, the user is prompted to shift to the fixed mode. Can recognize that the system is frequently switched, and by switching to the fixed mode at this time, consumption of the battery of the terminal can be suppressed. Thus, since the mobile communication terminal 100 can select the automatic switching mode or the fixed mode at the user's intention, it is possible to provide the optimum mode for the user.

  In the above-described procedure, the WCDMA communication system is preferentially used. Instead, for example, in a region where the GSM service area is wider than that of WCDMA, it is desirable to give priority to GSM. In addition, the screen example shown in FIG. 5 is suitable for the above-described procedure for recommending WCDMA to the fixed mode, but it is possible to use both communication systems equally, for example, in applications that do not give priority to WCDMA and GSM. In the area, as shown in FIG. 6, when it is confirmed whether or not it is possible to shift to the fixed mode on the screen 6a, and when the transition to the fixed mode is instructed, the system can be selected on the same screen / screen 6b. .

  In the above embodiment, the procedure for selectively using two communication systems such as WCDMA and GSM has been described. However, the number of communication systems used by the mobile communication terminal of the present invention is not limited to two, but three or more. There may be. In that case, the switching priority in the automatic switching mode may be determined based on the communication quality. For example, a system in which the control unit 40 detects communication quality such as radio wave distortion by the detection unit 41 and detects WCDMA radio communication unit 10 and GSM radio communication unit 20 by a conventionally known technique, thereby obtaining better communication quality. To use at your current location. Further, when the system is frequently switched and the mode is shifted to the fixed mode, the communication system that is used most frequently during the period may be set to be used in the fixed mode.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the portable communication terminal of the Example by this invention. It is explanatory drawing (the 1) for demonstrating the utilization record of the communication system of an Example. It is explanatory drawing (the 2) for demonstrating the utilization record of the communication system of an Example. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the operation | movement procedure of the portable communication terminal of an Example. It is explanatory drawing (the 1) for demonstrating the notification screen in an Example. It is explanatory drawing (the 2) for demonstrating the notification screen in an Example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Mobile communication terminal 10 WCDMA wireless communication means 11: WCDMA wireless part, 12: WCDMA baseband processing part 20 GSM wireless communication means 21: GSM wireless part, 22: GSM baseband processing part 30: Shared antenna, 31: Antenna switching part 40: control unit 40a: timer mechanism, 41: detection means, 42: switching means, 43: monitoring means, 44: mode confirmation means 50: memory, 60: LCD display, 70: key button, 80: receiver, 90: microphone

Claims (10)

  A mobile communication terminal having a plurality of wireless communication means for using a plurality of different communication systems operates a wireless communication means corresponding to a communication system available at the current location, and In the first operation mode in which another wireless communication means is activated when use of the communication system becomes impossible, when the operation switching of the wireless communication means in a predetermined period exceeds a predetermined number of times, the operation switching is performed by a user operation. A communication system switching method, which asks the user whether or not to shift to the second operation mode to be performed.   When the mobile communication terminal records the operating time of each wireless communication means in the first operation mode and asks whether or not it is possible to shift to the second operation mode, the operating time of each wireless communication means in the predetermined period 2. The communication system switching method according to claim 1, further comprising: notifying a user that a wireless communication unit having a larger cumulative value is operated in the second operation mode.   When the portable communication terminal is instructed to shift from the first operation mode to the second operation mode, the portable communication terminal causes the user to select a wireless communication unit to be operated in the second operation mode. The communication system switching method according to claim 1.   4. The mobile communication terminal according to claim 1, wherein in the first operation mode, the mobile communication terminal switches the operation according to a priority set in advance for the plurality of wireless communication means. The communication system switching method according to claim 1.   5. The communication system switching according to claim 4, wherein the portable communication terminal detects the communication quality of each wireless communication means in the current location, and sets the wireless communication means having a higher communication quality at the higher priority. Method. A plurality of wireless communication units for using a plurality of different communication systems, and a communication control unit for operating a wireless communication unit corresponding to the communication system used in the current location,
The communication control unit
Detection means for detecting a communication system that can be used at the present location, and another wireless communication part when a wireless communication unit corresponding to the available communication system is operated and the use of the communication system is detected by the detection means A switching means for executing the first operation mode for operating the apparatus, a monitoring means for monitoring the number of switching operations of the wireless communication unit during a predetermined period of the first operation mode, and the number of switching times of the operation being a predetermined number of times. And a mode confirmation means for asking the user whether or not to shift to the second operation mode in which the operation is switched by a user operation when the monitoring means detects that the above is exceeded. . The communication control unit further includes recording means for recording an operation time of each wireless communication unit in the first operation mode,
When the mode confirmation means asks whether or not it is possible to shift to the second operation mode, the cumulative value of the operating time in the predetermined period recorded by the recording means with respect to each wireless communication unit is compared, and the wireless value becomes a larger cumulative value. The mobile communication terminal according to claim 6, wherein the user is notified that the communication unit is to be operated in the second operation mode.   When the communication control unit is instructed to shift from the first operation mode to the second operation mode, the communication control unit selects a wireless communication unit to be operated in the second operation mode from the mode confirmation unit to the user. The mobile communication terminal according to claim 6, wherein the mobile communication terminal is selected.   The said communication control part switches the said operation | movement according to the priority set beforehand with respect to these radio | wireless communication parts in the said 1st operation mode, Either of the Claims 6 thru | or 8 characterized by the above-mentioned. The mobile communication terminal according to item 1. The communication control unit further includes means for detecting communication quality of each wireless communication unit at a current location, and sets a wireless communication unit having a higher communication quality at a higher priority level. 9. The mobile communication terminal according to 9.

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