JP2005354300A - Mobile terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mobile terminal with a built-in contactless IC card function that can make excellent communication with a reader-writer. <P>SOLUTION: The mobile terminal 100 with a built-in near distance wireless communication means as the contactless IC card function is provided with measurement antennas 127a to 127d in addition to a master antenna 126 connected to the near distance wireless communication means, uses the measurement antennas 127a to 127d to measure a reception state of a radio wave from the reader-writer, and when receiving the radio wave from the reader-writer, the mobile terminal determines a direction wherein the reader-writer exists and allows a display section 125 to display the determined direction wherein the reader-writer exists. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone terminal, and more particularly to a mobile terminal with a built-in or attached short-range wireless communication function called a non-contact type IC card.

  In recent years, the use of non-contact type IC cards is rapidly spreading as transportation tickets, membership cards, employee cards, cards for payment methods at stores, and the like. The non-contact type IC card performs authentication processing by performing wireless communication with a nearby reader / writer, and thus can be used in a wallet or the like, and is more convenient than a magnetic card or the like.

  On the other hand, such a non-contact type IC card (or a circuit component having the same function as the IC card) is built in a portable electronic device such as a mobile phone terminal, and these devices are used in the same manner. Proposals have been made to enable authentication and settlement. In the case where the IC card is built in a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone terminal, a case where a functional unit as an IC card is incorporated in a state where it cannot be taken out from the mobile terminal, and a card slot prepared for the mobile terminal, Although it is assumed that an IC card is mounted, it can be used in any case in a state where it is attached to a portable terminal. Note that when an IC card function unit is incorporated in a mobile terminal, the IC card function unit is not necessarily in the shape of a card. However, in the following description, an IC card is particularly described when referred to as an IC card. Unless otherwise specified, it includes a portion having an IC card function.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 discloses that an IC card is built in a mobile phone terminal.
JP 2002-324220 A

  By the way, when the IC card is read by the reader / writer, it is necessary to bring the IC card very close to the reader / writer. If the positional relationship between the IC card and the reader / writer is slightly poor, there is a problem that the reader / writer cannot recognize the IC card. For this reason, in general, in the case of this type of reader / writer, a mark or the like indicating the position where the IC card is placed is indicated so that it can be understood where the card should be approached. There are many cases where recognition is impossible (that is, when wireless communication cannot be performed correctly).

  When a card-shaped IC card alone is read by a reader / writer, the size of the IC card is small, so the position where the IC card is placed on the reader / writer is relatively easy to understand, and there are relatively few cases in which problems arise. On the other hand, when using an IC card built in a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone terminal, the mobile terminal is larger than the card-shaped IC card alone, and the user can use the IC card in the mobile terminal. The location where the antenna is built-in is difficult to determine, it is difficult to determine which part of the mobile terminal should be close to the reader / writer, and there are more cases where the reader / writer will fail to read than the IC card alone. .

  The present invention has been made in view of this point, and an object of the present invention is to enable a portable terminal having a built-in non-contact IC card function to communicate with a reader / writer well.

  The present invention provides a portable terminal incorporating a short-range wireless communication means as a non-contact IC card function, provided with a measurement antenna separately from the main antenna connected to the short-range wireless communication means. When the reception status of the radio wave from the reader / writer is measured with the antenna and the radio wave from the reader / writer is received, the direction in which the reader / writer exists is determined, and the direction in which the determined reader / writer exists is determined. It is intended to be displayed.

  In this way, when the portable terminal is moved in the displayed direction when it is brought close to the reader / writer, the wireless communication with the reader / writer can be performed correctly.

  According to the present invention, when approaching a reader / writer, the direction of the position where the reader / writer can communicate best is displayed, and the wireless communication can be performed correctly just by moving the mobile terminal in that direction. And IC card function authentication can be performed quickly. In order to realize the present invention, it is not necessary to make any changes on the reader / writer side, and it can be realized simply by coping with the terminal side. In addition, it is possible to easily display the direction in which the reader / writer exists by using the display means originally prepared for the mobile terminal, and to design the terminal by using the mobile terminal in which the display means is arranged. The present invention can be realized without greatly changing the.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
In this example, the present invention is applied to a mobile phone terminal having a built-in IC card function for wireless communication without contact.

  1 and 2 are views showing the external shape of the mobile phone terminal of this example. In this example, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the first casing 110 and the second casing 120 are configured to be a so-called foldable mobile phone terminal 100 in which the hinge section 101 is pivotably joined. It is. 1 and 2 show the mobile phone terminal 100 with the first housing 110 and the second housing 120 opened, FIG. 1 shows the outside of the opened state, and FIG. The inside of the open state is shown.

  As shown in FIG. 2, operation keys 111 such as dial keys and various function keys are arranged inside the first casing 110 which is a lower casing. One of the operation keys 111 is a shooting key 111a for camera function. A microphone 113 is disposed at the lower end inside the first housing 110.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a speaker 122 is disposed at the upper end of the inner side of the second casing 120, which is the upper casing, and a display constituted by display means such as a liquid crystal display panel below the speaker 122. A part 123 is arranged, and a part of the keys 111 b and 111 c constituting the operation keys 111 are arranged below the display part 123. The display unit 123 includes a telephone number or registered name at the time of outgoing / incoming call, the body of an email or an attached image, an image taken by a camera function unit, reception status of radio waves from a base station, remaining battery power The amount can be displayed.

  The operation keys 111 and the display unit 123 arranged inside the casings 110 and 120 are hidden inside and not exposed to the outside when the terminal 100 is folded.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a sub display unit 125 including a camera unit 124 and a display unit such as a liquid crystal display panel is disposed outside the second housing 120. The sub display unit 125 uses display means having a display area smaller than that of the inner display unit 123, and performs only limited display such as an incoming call status. Since the sub-display unit 125 is arranged outside the terminal 100, the sub-display unit 125 is exposed to the outside even when the terminal 100 is folded, and the display content can be confirmed. The sub display unit 125 is used to display the direction of the reader / writer described later.

  As shown in FIG. 1, an IC card antenna 126 is disposed substantially at the center of the first housing 110, and four measurement antennas 127 a to 127 d are disposed in the vicinity of the four corners. . The IC card antenna 126 is a main antenna for exchanging data with an external reader / writer when performing wireless communication using the IC card function, and the other measurement antennas 127a to 127d are connected to the reader / writer from the reader / writer. It is an antenna for measuring the radio wave reception level.

  These antennas 126, 127a to 127d for IC card function are built (embedded) in the casing and are not visible from the outside. For example, the measurement antennas 127a to 127d are configured by chip antennas arranged on a circuit board arranged in a housing. The IC card antenna 126 and the measurement antennas 127a to 127d are antennas whose reception frequency bands are set so as to receive radio waves from a reader / writer described later. In the case of this example, a battery cover 131 is attached to the lower half of the outer side of the first housing 110, and the IC card antenna 126 is positioned away from the battery cover 131 (that is, the first housing 110). At a position slightly shifted to the upper side of the center).

  An antenna 121 for performing wireless communication with a radio telephone base station is attached to the upper end of the second housing 120. In addition, a jog dial 112 for performing a turning operation and a pressing operation for various inputs is disposed on the side surface of the first housing 110.

  Next, an example of the internal configuration of the mobile phone terminal 100 of this example will be described with reference to FIG. First, a transmission configuration as a wireless telephone terminal will be described. Data that is supplied to the microphone 113 as a digital signal by supplying the audio signal input to the microphone 113 and supplied to the digital signal processing unit 202 as a packet for transmission Processing is performed, and the obtained transmission packet is supplied to an RF (high frequency) input / output unit 203, modulated for transmission, converted to a predetermined transmission frequency, and wirelessly transmitted from the connected antenna 121.

  As a reception configuration as a wireless telephone terminal, a signal in a predetermined frequency band received by an antenna 121 is received and processed by an RF (high frequency) input / output unit 203 and a demodulation process for reception is performed to obtain a received packet. The obtained received packet is supplied to the digital signal processing unit 202, and each data in the packet such as an audio signal is extracted. The extracted audio signal is supplied to the audio output unit 204, performs output processing such as analog conversion and amplification, and is output from the connected speaker 122.

  These transmission and reception processes are configured to be executed based on the control of the control unit 207. When the operation unit 111 or 112 is operated, a command based on the operation is supplied to the control unit 207, and the control unit 207 controls to be instructed. The control unit 207 also controls display on the display unit 123 and the sub display unit 125. Further, data transfer with the outside via the external interface unit 208 provided in the mobile phone terminal 100 is also executed under the control of the control unit 207. Furthermore, the control unit 207 also performs processing when radio waves from a reader / writer described later are received by the measurement antennas 127a to 127d. The power of each part of the terminal 100 is supplied from a power supply unit 209 including a secondary battery, a charge control circuit, a transformer circuit, and the like.

  The cellular phone terminal 100 of this example incorporates an IC card function unit 211. The IC card function unit 211 has a built-in memory, and a code for identifying and authenticating a user, a charged amount, data registered as a boarding ticket and various tickets, and the like are stored in the memory. An IC card antenna 126 is connected to the IC card function unit 211. The IC card antenna 126 receives radio waves transmitted at a predetermined frequency from an external reader / writer, and is close to the reader / writer. If it is determined that the state has been established, bidirectional wireless communication is performed with the reader / writer. The wireless communication between the IC card antenna 126 and the reader / writer is wireless communication between very close distances such as a distance of about several centimeters.

  When communication is performed between the IC card function unit 211 and the reader / writer, for example, data such as an identification code stored in the IC card function unit 211, an amount of money, and registered conditions are stored on the reader / writer side. And let the reader / writer recognize it. If necessary, data to be written to the memory is sent from the reader / writer side, and the data stored in the IC card function unit 211 is updated.

  The operation of the IC card function unit 211 may be configured to operate with the electric power transmitted from the reader / writer side and stored in a capacitor or the like. You may make it operate | move by supplying.

  When the IC card function unit 211 performs wireless communication with the reader / writer and performs processing such as authentication, the processing is basically completed in the IC card function unit 211, but the control unit 207 A part of the functions may be executed. The memory storing authentication data may also be stored in a memory (not shown) prepared on the control unit 207 side. While the IC card function unit 211 performs wireless communication with the reader / writer, the control unit 207 can determine this. Further, wireless communication with the reader / writer can be started by the IC card function unit 211 in accordance with a command from the control unit 207.

  In this example, as already shown in FIG. 1, four measurement antennas 127a to 127d are attached to the mobile phone terminal 100, and these four measurement antennas 127a to 127d are analog / digital for the measurement antenna. Connected to the converter 210. In the analog / digital converter 210 for the measurement antenna, the reception level (reception electric field strength) of the frequency transmitted from the reader / writer in each of the antennas 127a to 127d is converted into digital data, and the reception level data of each antenna is converted into digital data. The data is sent to the control unit 207.

  When the control unit 207 monitors the reception level data of the four measurement antennas 127a to 127d and determines that the measurement level is close to the reader / writer, the control unit 207 determines the reader / writer from the difference between the reception levels of the four antennas. The direction in which the writer exists is determined, and the sub-display unit 125 displays the determined direction.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing based on the reception levels of the four measurement antennas 127a to 127d, which is executed under the control of the control unit 207. Hereinafter, description will be made based on the flowchart of FIG. 4. First, the control unit 207 receives the radio waves from the IC card reader / writer at the measurement antennas 127 a to 127 d (or reception by the antenna 126) above a certain threshold. (Step S11). At this time, the control unit 207 determines the processing state in the IC card function unit 211, and the IC card function unit 211 is correctly recognized by the reader / writer side by wireless communication between the IC card function unit 211 and the reader / writer. It is determined whether or not (step S12). Here, when it is determined that the recognition has been correctly performed, the IC card function unit 211 performs processing based on data transmitted from the reader / writer.

  If it is determined in step S12 that the IC card function unit 211 has not been recognized by the reader / writer side, the data supplied from the measurement antenna analog / digital converter 210 is used as the four measurement antennas 127a to 127a. The received electric field strength at 127d is measured (step S13). Then, the position (direction) where the radio wave is strongest is obtained by calculation from the difference in the received electric field strengths of the four measurement antennas 127a to 127d (step S15), and the obtained position and the IC card antenna 126 From the position, it is calculated by calculating in which direction the mobile phone terminal 100 is moved to approach the reader / writer (step S16).

  When the direction is calculated in step S16, a display indicating the calculated direction is displayed on the sub display unit 125, and an arrow indicating the calculated direction is displayed to notify the user of the position where the reader / writer exists. (Step S17). Thereafter, returning to the determination in step S12, when the IC card function unit 211 is correctly recognized by the reader / writer, the display of this arrow is stopped. Returning to the determination in step S12, if the recognition is not yet correctly performed, the processing in steps S13 to S17 is repeated to update the arrow display direction with the reception status at that time. Note that if it is determined in step S12 that the reader / writer side has recognized correctly, the sub-display unit 125 may display that the recognition has been completed using characters or figures.

  FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 show actual operation examples when processing is performed in this way. In this example, the cellular phone terminal 100 is in a folded state, and as shown in FIG. 5, the surface on which the IC card antenna 126 of the cellular phone terminal 100 is disposed (here, this surface is referred to as a lower surface) is defined as IC. Assume that the card reader / writer is placed close to the radio wave source. Here, since the radio wave intensity is inversely proportional to the square of the distance, it is possible to narrow down where the radio wave transmission source of the reader / writer is from the reception intensity of the two antennas. For example, it is assumed that the reception intensity of the antenna 127a is four times the reception intensity of the antenna 127b. At this time, the distance between the antenna 127b and the radio transmission source of the reader / writer is twice the distance between the antenna 127b and the radio transmission source of the reader / writer. As a result, from the radio field intensity measurement results of the two antennas 127a and 127b, it is required that the radio wave transmission source of the reader / writer exists on a certain circle 302 shown in FIG. By repeating the same calculation process between other antennas for measurement, it is possible to draw a plurality of circles where radio wave sources exist, and at one point where all the circles pass (for example, point 301 in FIG. 5). The reader / writer must have a radio wave source. Thus, by finding the position 301 where the reader / writer's radio wave source is located, a vector 303 connecting the position of the IC card antenna 126 and the position 301 where the radio wave source is located is generated, and the vector is visualized. An appropriate position can be shown by performing the arrow display.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 6, an arrow 125 a corresponding to the vector 303 is displayed on the sub display unit 125. Note that the direction of viewing the lower surface in FIG. 5 and the direction of viewing the surface (upper surface) on which the sub-display unit 125 is disposed in FIG. 6 are opposite directions, and thus the calculated vector 303 shown in FIG. The direction is opposite to the direction in which the arrow shown in FIG. 6 is displayed.

  By displaying in this way, for example, as shown in FIG. 7, when the mobile phone terminal 100 of this example is to be recognized close to the reader / writer 10 for the IC card, the reader / writer When approaching the radio wave transmission / reception unit 11 of the writer 10, an arrow 125 a indicating the direction in which the radio wave transmission / reception unit 11 exists is displayed on the display unit 125 of the mobile phone terminal 100. By slightly moving the terminal 100 in the direction in which 125a is displayed, the wireless communication can be satisfactorily performed, and the IC card function unit 211 built in the mobile phone terminal 100 can be surely recognized by the reader / writer 10. it can.

  In the embodiment described above, an example in which the IC card function is incorporated in the folding cellular phone terminal having the configuration shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is applicable, but the present invention can also be applied to cellular phone terminals having other shapes. Of course there is. In the above example, the display indicating the direction of the reader / writer is performed on the sub-display unit, but other display units may be used. For example, in the case of a foldable mobile phone terminal configured as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the first housing 110 and the second housing 120 are opened (the state shown in FIGS. 1 and 2). In such a case, an arrow indicating the direction is displayed on the inner display unit 123, and when the first casing 110 and the second casing 120 are closed, the outer sub display unit 125 indicates the direction. An arrow or the like may be displayed. In this way, by switching the display position so as to display the direction of the reader / writer on the display unit disposed on the surface opposite to the surface on which the antenna of the IC card function unit is disposed, The terminal is displayed appropriately regardless of the form.

  In addition, as the display indicating the direction of the reader / writer, in the above-described embodiment, the direction is indicated by the arrow, but other display forms may be used. For example, color-coded display according to the strength of the radio wave may be performed so that the direction in which the radio wave is strong can be determined. Moreover, when displaying with the arrow, you may make it change the length of the arrow displayed according to the strength of the measured electromagnetic wave. For example, when the distance to the reader / writer is relatively long, the displayed arrow is lengthened, and when the distance to the reader / writer is relatively short, the displayed arrow is shortened. Also, instead of indicating the direction as a figure such as an arrow, for example, a plurality of light emitting means such as light emitting diodes are arranged on the surface of the housing, and the detected direction of the reader / writer is indicated by the position to emit light. It may be displayed. Alternatively, directions such as up, down, left, and right may be displayed as characters to indicate the direction. Or you may make it notify by methods other than a display. For example, the direction may be indicated by a word by voice synthesis.

  In the above-described embodiment, four antennas are provided as measurement antennas, but the number may be other than four. In principle, the direction can be determined if there are at least three antennas for measurement. Regardless of the number of antennas, it is preferable to dispose the antennas as far as possible. The reception level data at the antenna 126, which is the main antenna that communicates with the reader / writer, may also be used when calculating the direction.

  In the above-described embodiment, an example is described in which the IC card function is incorporated in the mobile phone terminal. However, the same processing can be applied to the case where the IC card function is incorporated in various other portable terminal devices. Is possible. The IC card function built into the terminal is prepared in the terminal in addition to the case where a circuit block for realizing the same function as the IC card is built in the terminal (in the case of the above-described embodiment). As a configuration in which an IC card is mounted in a card slot or the like, a position where the mounted IC card can communicate may be displayed.

  In the above-described embodiments, specific examples of usage patterns using the IC card function have not been specifically described. However, they can be used as transportation tickets, concert tickets, etc., for entrance and exit gates. When installing a reader / writer, use it as a membership card or employee ID card, and when installing a reader / writer at a place where only the member or employee can enter, use it as a payment method at the store, The present invention can be applied to various usage forms in which a reader / writer is installed, such as when a writer is installed.

  In the above-described embodiment, the reader / writer configured as a means for both writing to and reading from the IC card is used as a means for performing wireless communication with the IC card function. This includes, for example, a case where only the function of reading data written in the IC card is provided, and a case where only the function of writing data in the IC card is provided. In any case, in the case of this type of reader / writer, radio waves for operating an IC card without a built-in power supply are transmitted from the reader / writer, and the terminal side detects the radio waves and measures them. Then, the processing of the present invention can be executed.

It is a perspective view which shows the example of a structure of the outer side of the terminal by one embodiment of this invention. It is the perspective view which showed the example of a structure inside the terminal by one embodiment of this invention. It is the block diagram which showed the example of the internal structure of the terminal by one embodiment of this invention. It is the flowchart which showed the example of a process at the time of the electromagnetic wave detection by one embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which showed the example of the electromagnetic wave detection state by one embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which showed the example of a display based on the detection state of FIG. It is explanatory drawing which showed the example of the usage image by one embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Reader / writer, 11 ... Radio wave transmission / reception part, 100 ... Cell-phone terminal, 123 ... Display part, 125 ... Sub display part, 125a ... Direction display, 126 ... Antenna for IC card function, 127a-127d ... Antenna for measurement, 207 ... Control unit, 210 ... Analog / digital converter for measurement antenna, 211 ... IC card function unit

Claims (4)

In a portable terminal equipped with a short-range wireless communication means that is housed in a predetermined housing and performs short-range wireless communication with a reader / writer, and recognizes it on the reader / writer side,
A main antenna connected to the short-range wireless communication means and disposed at a predetermined position of the housing;
A measurement antenna disposed at a position away from the main antenna;
Measuring means for measuring the reception status of radio waves from the reader / writer at the measurement antenna, and when receiving radio waves from the reader / writer, determining means for determining the direction in which the reader / writer exists;
A portable terminal comprising display means for displaying the direction determined by the determination means. The mobile terminal according to claim 1, wherein
The display means is a portable terminal arranged on a predetermined surface of the casing on the side opposite to the side where the short-range wireless communication means performs short-range wireless communication with the reader / writer. The mobile terminal according to claim 1, wherein
The display means is a mobile terminal disposed on the opposite side of the surface of the housing where the main antenna is disposed. The mobile terminal according to claim 1, wherein
The measurement antenna is a portable terminal arranged around a surface on which the main antenna is arranged.

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