JP2944615B2 - Communication device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a communication device having a function of making a call notification.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in such a communication apparatus, for example, a selective call receiver, a call notification is made at the time of an incoming call. The user can set the selective call receiver to a silent call mode in which no sound is generated in a place such as a conference room where the user wants to avoid call notification by sound. However, when the receiver is set in the silent calling mode and put in a bag or the like, the user may not notice the calling even if the calling occurs. Therefore, there is a problem that the caller cannot be contacted when he / she wants to make an emergency contact.

[0003] Therefore, there has been proposed a selective call system in which a caller forcibly issues a call notification by sounding. This type of selective calling system is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-44118.
No. 6,086,045.

In this selective calling system, when a receiver receives a message signal, it is determined whether or not a specific code exists at the head of a message code following an ID code. If a specific code is not detected, it is determined whether the currently set call mode is the silent call mode or the ringing call mode. When the ringing mode is set, a ringing tone and an LED are used to make a call notification. When the silent ringing mode is set, a call notification is made using only the LED. On the other hand, when a specific code is detected, a ringing tone and an LED are used to notify the ringing regardless of the currently set ringing mode. This specific code is input by the sender when transmitting the message information. Therefore, in this selective calling system, even if the receiver sets the silent ringing mode in advance and puts the receiver in a case or the like, the caller adds a specific code to the message code and transmits the message code. Since the call notification is forcibly performed by sounding, the receiver can surely recognize the call notification.

[0005] In this selective calling system, however, the caller can select whether or not to make the calling notification method in the receiver sound, but the ringing sound notified by the receiver is independent of the calling person. Since it is always the same, the receiver cannot recognize from whom the call was made based on the ringing tone that is reported.

On the other hand, there has been proposed an individual selective call receiver having a plurality of selective call numbers and informing which of the selective call numbers is called by a difference in sound.

[0007] This type of individually selected paging receiver, for example,
It is disclosed in JP-A-63-252029.

In this individually selected call receiver, a user previously stores different sound patterns corresponding to each of a plurality of call numbers. Upon receiving the message signal, it is determined whether or not the received calling number matches any of a plurality of calling numbers stored in advance. If there is a call number that matches the received call number, a call notification is performed based on the sound pattern stored corresponding to the call number. Therefore, in the individual selective call receiver, the user can distinguish, for example, whether the call is an information service call or a private call, based on the sound pattern notified at the time of calling.

[0009]

However, in this individually selected call receiver, the user can distinguish the type of the received information from the ringing tone to be notified, but cannot determine from whom the call is made. It cannot be specified.

[0010] This problem can be solved by assigning one calling number to one specific caller. However, in this case, each receiver needs a plurality of calling numbers. In the current wireless selective call transmission system, one telephone line is provided for one call number, and therefore, since each receiver has a plurality of call numbers, the number of telephone lines provided to the transmission system decreases. The problem arises.

[0011] In view of the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to reduce the number of telephone lines provided to a transmission system.
An object of the present invention is to provide a communication device capable of reliably recognizing a call from a receiver.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a communication apparatus capable of reliably recognizing who is calling even if the receiver forgets the call notification mode corresponding to the caller. It is in.

[0013]

To achieve the above object, a communication apparatus according to the present invention comprises a radio section for receiving a call number and a message signal subsequent to the call number, and a caller name from the message signal. A control unit for extracting information to be indicated;
The information, and a display unit that displays the message signal in a different manner from the other parts except the information, and the information,
Storage for storing in advance a notification pattern corresponding to the information
And the storage unit is based on the number of characters of the information.
And storing the information in order . It is preferable to provide a notification unit that performs a call notification in a different pattern based on the information indicating the caller name. Further, it is preferable that the display unit displays information indicating the caller name in a predetermined area.

[0014]

[0015]

Therefore, according to the present invention, the name of the caller transmitted from the caller is searched, and the call notification is performed using the notification pattern corresponding to the searched caller name. Can be surely recognized.

Also, since the name of the caller is also displayed on the display unit, even if the receiver forgets the notification pattern, the receiver checks the display unit to ensure that the caller is from. Can be recognized.

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The construction of a communication apparatus according to the present invention, preferably a radio selective call receiver such as a pager will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 1, a radio unit 2 transmits a radio signal from a base station (not shown) by an antenna 1, for example, POCSAG.
Amplifies and demodulates a wireless signal based on the method, and converts the signal into a digital signal whose waveform is shaped. The decoder 3 has a ROM 4
The selected call number stored in advance in the received signal is compared with the selected call number in the received signal. Upon receiving the matching result matching notification from the decoder 3, the control unit 12 temporarily stores the message data included in the received signal in the RAM 5. The message conversion unit 8 converts each character code in the received signal into display characters in response to the control signal from the control unit 12, for example, based on the message conversion table shown in FIG. The display unit 10 is controlled by the control unit 12, and displays a received message, time, and the like. Display 1
0 is preferably either CRT or LCD. The notification unit 8 is controlled by the control unit 12 and notifies the user of the incoming call. The notification unit 8 is preferably at least one of a speaker, an LED, and a vibrator. Hereinafter, in the present embodiment, a description will be given assuming that a call notification is performed by a sound output from a speaker. The operation unit 9 is used for various operations such as a message reading operation and an incoming call notification unit.

Further, in the present invention, the RAM 6 stores a caller name and a sound pattern registered for each caller name in association with each other. The search unit 7 searches whether the caller name stored in the RAM 6 exists in the message data. When the caller name exists, the control unit 12
The display unit 10 displays the message and the caller name. In the display, it is preferable that, in the received message data, a true message portion excluding the caller name and a portion indicating the caller name be displayed separately.

With this configuration, according to the present invention, upon receiving the message data, the search unit 7 determines whether or not the caller name stored in the RAM 6 exists in the message data. RA in the message data
If there is a caller name stored in M6, a call notification is performed according to a sound pattern registered corresponding to the caller name. At the time of the call notification, the display unit 10 displays the received message and the caller's name separately. on the other hand,
If the caller name stored in the RAM 6 does not exist in the message data, a call notification is performed according to a preset normal sounding pattern.

Next, the operation of the radio selective calling receiver shown in FIG. 1 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 3, it is determined whether or not a radio signal has been received (S101). If a radio signal has been received (YES in S101), selective calling included in the digital signal input to the decoder 3 is performed. The number is compared with the selected calling number of the own device stored in the ROM 4 in advance (S10).
2). If they do not match (NO in S103),
Return to the standby state again. On the other hand, if they match (YES in S103), the message data following the received selective call number is supplied from the decoder 3 to the control unit 12. The control unit 12 converts the input message data into RA
It is stored in M5 (S104). The message conversion unit 8
Each character code in the input message data is converted into a display character, that is, a message, based on the message conversion table shown in FIG. 2, as described later in detail (S105). The converted message is stored in a register (not shown). The search unit 7 searches the message stored in the register (not shown) for the presence or absence of the caller name stored in the RAM 6 (S106). If the caller name stored in the RAM 6 exists in the message (YES in S106), the control unit 12 sends a notification to the notification unit 11 based on the sound pattern registered corresponding to the caller name. At the same time, the message and the name of the caller are distinguished and displayed on the display unit 10 (S108). On the other hand, if the caller name stored in the RAM 6 does not exist in the message (N in S106)
O), the control unit 12 notifies the notification unit 11 according to a normal sound pattern set in advance by the operation of the operation unit 9 by the user (S109), and displays a message on the display unit 10 (S109). S110). The operation of determining whether or not the caller name exists in the message in S106 will be described later in detail.

FIG. 4 is a storage table showing a preferred storage example of a caller name and a corresponding sound pattern in the RAM 6 shown in FIG.

In FIG. 4, five caller names are set in advance. That is, when a call is made from “TOM”, the call is notified by a sound pattern of “beep 1”, and when a call is made from “BOB”,
The call is notified by the sound pattern of "beep 2".

FIG. 5 is a preferred example of the sound generation waveform pattern shown in FIG. In FIG. 5, one cycle of each sound is, for example, 625 MSEC, and the sound frequency is, for example, 2740 Hz.

Returning to FIG. 4, the caller name need not be the name itself. For example, a symbol predetermined between the caller and the receiver may be used. In short, anything can be used as long as the recipient can recognize the caller name. Further, the number of caller names stored in the RAM 6 is not limited to five at all. The caller name and the corresponding sound pattern can be added, changed, and deleted by operating the operation unit 9 by the user.

Referring to FIGS. 6 (a) to 6 (f), FIGS. 7 (a) and 7 (b), a method of registering a preferred example of a caller name and a corresponding sound pattern will be described. FIG.
(A)-(f) is a top view of the surface which has the operation part 9 and the display part 10 of the radio selective calling receiver of this invention.

In FIG. 6A, in the standby state,
The display unit 10 displays the date and time. When the user presses the “M” button 21 in the standby state, a menu screen shown in FIG. 6B is displayed. In FIG. 6B, every time the user presses the "<" or ">" button 23 for scrolling, the menu shown in FIG. 7A is displayed in order. Menu "Sound setting"
When the user presses the "SET" button 22 in a state where is displayed, the sound setting screens shown in FIGS. 6C to 6E are displayed.

In FIG. 6C, a storage number to be stored is registered. In FIG. 6C, every time the user presses the “<” or “>” button 23, the maximum number that can be stored from “01”, for example, “05” is displayed in order. The user sets “SET” with the storage number “01” displayed.
When the button 22 is pressed, the storage number “01” is registered, and a caller name registration screen shown in FIG. 6D is displayed. In FIG. 6D, each time the user presses the “<” or “>” button 23, the FIG. The characters and symbols shown in FIG. 2 are displayed on the bottom line in the display unit 10 in a predetermined order. The user presses the "SET" button 22 for each character and registers the caller name "TOM". FIG. 6D shows a state in which the cursor is set to “T” and the user presses the “SET” button 22. When the registration of the caller name is completed and the user presses the "M" button 21, FIG. 6E showing a sound pattern registration screen is displayed. In FIG. 6E, each time the user presses the "<" or ">" button 23, the sounding patterns shown in FIG. 7B are displayed in order. When the user presses the "SET" button 22 while the sound pattern "Beep 1" is displayed, registration of the caller name and the corresponding sound pattern is completed, and the setting shown in FIG. The completion screen is displayed.

FIG. 6F shows that the sound setting has been completed.
For example, "Setting completed" is displayed. Thereafter, when a predetermined time, for example, 2 seconds, elapses, the process automatically returns to FIG. 6A showing the standby state.

8 to 10, the operation of a preferred example of the search unit 7 shown in FIG. 1, that is, the S shown in FIG.
The processing after 106 will be described in detail.

In FIG. 8, the number A of registered caller names registered in the RAM 6, for example, "5" in this example is read (S202). And the caller name registration number A is 0
Is determined (S203). If the registered number A of the caller name is 0 (YES in S203), the notification is performed according to the normal sounding pattern set in advance by the operation of the operation unit 9 by the user (S208).

If the number of caller name registrations A is not 0 (NO in S203), FIG. The message shown in FIG. 10B is read (S204), and the length B of the read message, for example, “14” in this example is detected (S20).
5). Thereafter, the caller name search number i corresponding to the number shown in FIG. 4 is set to "1" (S206), and it is determined whether the search number i is equal to or smaller than the registered number A (S20).
7).

If the search number i is less than or equal to the number A of registrations (YES in S207), the search number i, ie, "1"
The name of the caller, "TOM" in this example, is read out (S
210), the length C of the read caller name, "3" in this example, is detected (S211). Thereafter, the message search position variable j indicating the search position in the message is “0”.
(S212), and the message search position variable j
Is smaller than or equal to the message length B (S2).
13 in FIG. 9).

If the message search position variable j is equal to or smaller than the message length B (YES in S213), the caller name search position variable k indicating the position to be searched in the caller name is set to "0" (step S213). S215). And FIG.
As shown in (c), it is determined whether the [j + k] -th character of the display message matches the [k] -th character of the caller name (S216).

If the [j + k] th character of the displayed message does not match the [k] th character of the caller name (NO in S216), "1" is added to the message search position variable j. (S217) The process of S213 is performed again. That is, as shown in FIG. 10D, the search locations of the displayed message are sequentially shifted to the right one by one until the first character "T" of the caller name is searched.

Thereafter, if the [j + k] -th character of the display message matches the [k] -th character of the caller name (YES in S216), “1” is set in the caller name search position variable k. Is added (S218), and it is determined whether or not the caller name search position variable k is equal to or less than the length C of the caller name (S219). If the caller name search position variable k is less than or equal to the length C of the caller name (YES in S219), the process of S216 is performed again. That is, until the characters of the caller name are sequentially searched from the displayed message, the search target portions of the caller name are sequentially shifted to the right one by one.

Thereafter, when the caller name search position variable k becomes larger than the length C of the caller name (NO in S219), the caller name is searched from the display message as shown in FIG. Then, the call notification is performed with the sound pattern corresponding to the caller name search number i shown in FIG. 4 (S22).
0). At the time of call notification, a message and a caller name are displayed on the display unit 10 (S221).

In the process of S213, if the message search position variable j is larger than the message length B, "1" is added to the caller name search number i (S214). It is determined whether or not there is (S207). If the search number i is larger than the number A of registrations (NO in S207), the user is notified of the call with a normal sounding pattern set in advance by operating the operation unit 9 (S208), and the display unit. A message is displayed on 10 (S209).

In FIGS. 8 and 9, the search for the caller name stored in the RAM 6 is performed from the beginning of the display message, but may be performed from the end of the display message. Also,
8 and 9, the search is performed sequentially from the "1" th caller name stored in the RAM 6, in this example, "TOM", but the search order is not limited at all.

FIG. 11 is a display example of a preferred example of the display unit 10 when the message and the caller name are displayed in S221 of FIG.

In FIG. 11, when a caller name exists in a received message, only the caller name is separated from the received message. The caller name is displayed after the preset “FROM:”. This "FRO
"M:" is automatically displayed when the name of the caller is present in the received message. Therefore, the recipient not only hears the sound, but also displays “FRO” displayed on the display unit 10.
From the caller name following "M:", it can be recognized from whom. The characters "FROM:" and the display location are not limited as long as they are distinguished from the message. The displayed message and the caller's name are deleted after a certain period of time, but the display may be continued until the user operates the operation unit 9. In this case, the user can recognize the caller name and the message by looking at the display unit 10 even if a certain period of time has elapsed without the user noticing the call notification by the sound.

In the above-described embodiment, the ringing pattern is changed according to the caller so that the receiver can recognize who the call is from. Is not limited in any way. That is, the vibration pattern of the vibrator may be changed, or the blinking pattern of the LED may be changed.

In the above-described embodiment, when a caller name is retrieved from a message, the sound pattern is changed based on the first retrieved caller name. Thus, both a name and the name that contains it,
For example, when "TOM" and "TOMMY" are stored in the RAM 6, "TOM" is searched and called with a sound pattern corresponding to "TOM", even though the call is from "TOMMY". May be informed. Therefore, in the present invention, it is preferable to perform a search operation from a caller name having a large number of characters. That is, RA
When registering the caller name in M6, it is preferable that the caller names are sorted and stored in ascending order of the number of characters.

In the above-described embodiment, when one of the caller names stored in the RAM 6 is detected in the received message, the sound pattern corresponding to the detected caller name is used. Call notification is performed. However, it is conceivable that there are multiple names in one message, for example, "MARYIS CALLING YOU TOM". In this case, it is necessary to search all the caller names stored in the RAM 6. If more than one caller name is found in the message, the caller usually uses the last caller name that is present at the end of the message to send it with the end of the message. Is preferred. Then, a call notification is performed based on a sound pattern corresponding to the caller name. The search for the caller name may be performed from the beginning of the displayed message or from the end of the displayed message.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the radio selective call receiver has been described. However, the communication device of the present invention is a portable handyphone system capable of displaying a short mail transmitted from a portable telephone, in particular, a caller. (P
HS). When displaying the short mail on the PHS, the caller creates and transmits the short mail based on the message conversion table shown in FIG. Therefore, in the same manner as in the above-described embodiment, the caller adds his / her name to the short mail and transmits it. The receiving side determines whether the caller name in the received short mail matches any of a plurality of caller names stored in advance. If there is a matching caller name, the call notification is performed using the notification pattern corresponding to the caller name. The caller name added to the short mail when the sender sends the short mail may be a symbol or code indicating the caller name. In short, anything can be used as long as the caller and the recipient can recognize each other.

As described above, according to the communication apparatus of the present invention, the caller simply adds his or her name to the message and transmits the message. A call notification is performed in a notification pattern corresponding to the called caller name. Therefore, the receiver can surely recognize from whom the call is made.

According to the present invention, not only the call notification method differs according to the searched caller name, but also the searched caller name is displayed on the display unit. Therefore, even if the receiver forgets the notification pattern, the receiver can surely recognize who the call is from by checking the display unit.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a preferred example of a radio selective calling receiver of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a preferred example of a message conversion table stored in the message conversion unit 8 shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining an operation of a preferred example of the radio selective calling receiver shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a storage table showing a preferred storage example of a caller name and a corresponding sound pattern stored in a RAM 6 shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a preferred example of a waveform generation pattern of the sounding sound shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a preferred example of a registration method of a caller name and a sound pattern corresponding thereto.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a list of preferred examples of preset menus and sound patterns.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining an operation of a preferred example of the search unit 7 shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining an operation of a preferred example of the search unit 7 shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining an operation of a preferred example of the search unit 7 shown in FIGS. 8 and 9;

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a preferred display example of a message and a caller name on the display unit 10 shown in FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 antenna 2 radio unit 3 decoder 4 ROM 5 RAM 6 RAM 7 search unit 8 message conversion unit 9 operation unit 10 display unit 11 notification unit 12 control unit 21 "M" button 22 "SET" button 23 scroll button

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) H04B 7/24-7/26 H04Q 7/00-7/38

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A radio unit for receiving a call number and a message signal subsequent to the call number, a control unit for extracting information indicating a caller name from the message signal, the information, and the information among the message signals a display unit that displays to distinguish between other portions excluding, and the information, and a notification pattern corresponding to the information previously
A storage unit that stores the information based on the number of characters of the information.
Are sequentially stored . 2. The communication device according to claim 1, further comprising a notification unit that performs a call notification in a different pattern based on the information indicating the caller name. 3. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the display unit displays information indicating the caller name in a predetermined area.