JP2001345895A - Portable telephone set - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a user to easily know data the capacity for storing in in the memory of a portable telephone set. SOLUTION: The portable telephone set is provided with a photographing part 18 for photographing an image, display part 11 for displaying data, memory 40 for storing the image data of the image photographed by the photographing part 18 or image data received from the outside, using a state-monitoring part 31 for monitoring the using state of the memory 40, and a notice-processing part 32 for reporting the state of the memory 40 to the user, by displaying the capacity which can be stored in the memory on the display part 11.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a portable telephone,
In particular, it relates to a mobile phone capable of storing data.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the improvement of functions of mobile phones,
Image information and audio information can be stored in a mobile phone. Also, mobile phones with built-in cameras have been developed.

[0003]

However, in such a portable telephone, the user cannot know the amount of data that can be stored in the memory. For this reason, the user may continue shooting or recording without noticing that the remaining memory capacity is low, and may suddenly be unable to shoot or record.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a portable telephone which allows a user to know the amount of data that can be stored in a memory.

[0005]

A portable telephone according to one aspect of the present invention includes a memory, a display unit for displaying data,
A usage status monitoring unit connected to the memory and monitoring the usage status of the memory, and connected to the usage status monitoring unit and the display unit,
A notification processing unit for displaying the use state of the memory on the display unit.

[0006] The state of use of the memory is displayed on the display unit.
For this reason, it is possible to prevent the memory capacity from running out without the user noticing.

[0007] Preferably, the portable telephone further comprises an alarm means for giving an external stimulus to the user of the portable telephone and issuing a warning, and when the storable capacity of the memory falls below a predetermined capacity. Means for activating the warning means.

When the storable capacity of the memory becomes low, the warning means is activated. For this reason, it is possible to prevent the memory capacity from running out without the user noticing.

[0009] More preferably, when the data stored in the memory is still image data, the notification processing unit includes means for displaying the storable number of images.

Since the storable number of images is displayed, the user can know the number of storable images in advance.

[0011] More preferably, when the data stored in the memory is moving image data, the notification processing unit includes means for displaying a storable time of the image.

Since the storable time of a moving image is displayed,
The user can know in advance the recordable time of the moving image.

[0013] More preferably, the portable telephone further comprises a warning means for giving an external stimulus to the user of the portable telephone and issuing a warning, and when the storable capacity of the memory falls below a predetermined capacity. Means for operating the warning means, and means for stopping the warning means when the image is taken by the photographing unit.

While the user is taking a picture, the warning means is not activated even if the storable capacity of the memory is low. Therefore, no external stimulus is applied to the user, and the user can perform photographing without any trouble. In such a case, since the use state of the memory is displayed on the notification display unit, the photographing is not continued without noticing that the remaining memory capacity is low.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS [First Embodiment] Referring to FIG. 1, a mobile phone according to a first embodiment of the present invention is connected to an antenna 1 and an external device via the antenna 1. Transmission / reception unit 2 for transmitting / receiving data, transmission / reception unit 2
, A modem unit 3 for modulating and demodulating data, a user interface unit 10 used for exchanging information with a user, and a user interface connected to the modem unit 3 and the user interface unit 10. A terminal interface unit 50 for transferring data between the unit 10 and the modem unit 3, a memory 40 capable of recording various information, a modem unit 3, the memory 40, the terminal interface unit 50, and the user interface unit 10.
A control unit 30 connected to and controlling each connected unit;
And a removable memory 100 connected to the external memory interface 17.

The user interface unit 10 includes a photographing unit 18 for photographing an image, a display unit 11 for displaying data,
A microphone 12 used for inputting audio, a speaker 13 for outputting audio, an external I / O (Input / Output) connector 14 for connecting to an external device, and a user used for inputting data A key 15, a vibrator 16 vibrating according to a predetermined command, a short-range wireless communication unit 19 for transmitting and receiving data by short-range wireless, and an infrared interface 2 serving as an interface for infrared communication
0 and an external memory interface 17 connected to the removable memory 100.

A personal computer 200 is connected to the short-range wireless communication unit 19 and the infrared interface 20.

The control unit 30 includes a use state monitoring unit 31 for monitoring the use state of the memory 40, and a notification processing unit 32 for notifying the user of the state of the memory 40.

The terminal interface unit 50 includes the display unit 1
1, a controller unit 51 connected to the microphone 12, the speaker 13 and the control unit 30 for controlling display and audio input / output, and connected to the imaging unit 18, the controller unit 51 and the control unit 30, It includes a codec unit 54 that performs encoding and decoding, and a modulation / demodulation interface unit 53 that is connected to the modulation / demodulation unit 3, the codec unit 54, and the control unit 30, and that exchanges data between the codec unit 54 and the modulation / demodulation unit 3.

The controller unit 51 is connected to the display unit 11 and the control unit 30, and is connected to the display controller 51A for controlling display of data, and to the microphone 12, the speaker 13 and the control unit 30, and controls voice input / output. And an audio controller 51B.

The codec unit 54 is connected to the photographing unit 18, the modulation / demodulation interface unit 53 and the control unit 30, and encodes image information photographed by the photographing unit 18 into a video encoder 54A, a modulation / demodulation interface unit 53, and a display controller 51A. And a video decoder 54B connected to the control unit 30 for decoding encoded image information received from the outside via the modulation / demodulation interface unit 53; a modulation / demodulation interface unit 53;
1B and an audio unit connected to the control unit 30 for receiving and encoding audio input from the microphone 12 via the audio controller 51B and decoding encoded audio information received from outside via the modem interface unit 53 And a codec 54C.

Each part of the portable telephone operates as follows. At the time of data communication, a wireless channel is established by a calling or receiving operation. After that, for example,
Receives the image information, the received image information is subjected to modulation processing or demodulation processing by the modulation / demodulation unit 3 and then input to the terminal interface unit 50. The modulation / demodulation interface unit 53 supplies the received data to the codec unit 54. The video decoder 54B of the codec unit 54
Decode image information. The decoded image information is
It is displayed on the display unit 11 via the display controller 51A.

In the flow of the image information described above, the control unit 30 controls the image information suitable for storage, for example, the video decoder 5.
The output data of 4B is taken out and stored in the memory 40. The use state monitoring unit 31 knows the available memory capacity for storing image information. The notification processing unit 32 displays the storable number when a still image is stored and the storable time when a moving image is stored via the display controller 51A according to the memory usage capacity. Displayed in the section 11. For example, referring to FIG. 2A, the number of storable images may be displayed by a text message, or by referring to FIG. 2B, a graphic display such as a bar graph may be displayed. Good.

When the remaining memory capacity is smaller than a predetermined capacity or smaller than a capacity set by a user, for example, when the remaining memory capacity is smaller than a predetermined capacity, When the number of sheets becomes smaller, or when the storable time of the moving image is reduced to 30 seconds or less, the user is notified by displaying on the display unit 11 that the remaining memory capacity is low or by vibrating the vibrator 16. Notice. In addition, LED instead of vibrator 16
(Light Emitting Diode) may be used to notify the user by blinking the light.

In addition, for example, referring to FIG. 3A, an icon indicating that the remaining memory capacity is small may be turned on or off at the corner of display unit 11. Or Figure 3
Referring to (B), for example, graphic display may be performed when the remaining memory capacity reaches 30%. These displays are superimposed on the currently displayed image.
Referring to FIG. 3C, an image display area and a memory remaining amount notification area may be displayed separately.

The control unit 30 notifies the user of the remaining recording time and the like according to the usage amount of the removable memory 100 connected to the external memory interface 17 as well as the memory 40.

The image information captured by the image capturing section 18 is similarly stored in the memory 40, and the use state of the memory 40 is monitored. The image information captured by the photographing unit 18 is encoded by the video encoder 54A and sent to the modulation / demodulation interface unit 53. If audio information is also captured by the microphone 12 at the time of shooting, the audio codec 54C
Then, the audio information is encoded and sent to the modulation / demodulation interface unit 53 like the image information. The modulation / demodulation interface unit 53 multiplexes the image information and the audio information, and passes the data to the modulation / demodulation unit 3. The control unit 30 stores both the image information and the audio information in the memory 40 via the modulation / demodulation interface unit 53 or the codec unit 54. The control unit 30 notifies the user of the remaining photographable time according to the remaining capacity of the memory 40.

If the remaining capacity of the memory 40 becomes small when an image is captured, the vibrator 16 may vibrate or an alarm sound may be generated by an alarm (not shown), which may hinder the image capturing. For this reason, it is possible to set in advance such that the vibration of the vibrator 16 and the generation of the alarm sound are prohibited during image capturing. Even in such a case, since the remaining memory capacity is displayed on the display unit 11, the photographing is not continued without noticing that the remaining memory capacity is low.

Referring to FIG. 4A, if the alarm sound and the vibrator are set to "OFF" and the incoming call is set to "prohibited" on the screen for setting the contents of "shooting mode", the vibrator is set. The vibration of the camera 16 or an incoming call from another will not interfere with the shooting. Referring to FIG. 4B, the user can set the current mode on the “mode setting” screen. Figure 4 automatically
The shooting mode of (A) is set to “ON”.

The image information may be taken in from an externally connected device. For example, data may be transmitted and received between the infrared interface 20 or the short-range wireless communication unit 19 and the personal computer 200 wirelessly or by infrared rays. At this time, the notification processing unit 32 notifies the personal computer 200 that the remaining memory capacity is small. The user can know through the personal computer 200 that the remaining capacity of the memory 40 is low.

In the above example, the description has been made on the assumption that image information is stored in the memory 40 or the memory 100. However, only audio information or music information may be stored instead of image information. Needless to say. When music information is stored, the notification processing unit 32
The user is notified of the remaining capacity of the memory 40 or the memory 100 by displaying a display as shown in FIG.

According to the present embodiment, the storage capacity of the memory 40 or the memory 100 is displayed on the display unit 11, and when the memory capacity is reduced, the user is notified by vibrating the vibrator 16 or the like. did. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the memory capacity from running out without the user noticing. At the same time, the user can easily know the number of recordings, the recording time, the recording time, or the remaining capacity of the memory.

Further, even when the remaining capacity of the memory 40 is reduced at the time of capturing an image, the vibrator 16 does not vibrate. Therefore, the user can perform photographing without any trouble.

[Second Embodiment] Referring to FIG. 6, a mobile phone according to a second embodiment is different from mobile phone according to the first embodiment described with reference to FIG. Has the same hardware configuration as the one using the user interface unit 70 and the terminal interface unit 60 instead of the terminal interface unit 50.

The user interface 70 is the same as the user interface 10 except that the photographing unit 18 is removed. The terminal interface unit 60 includes a codec unit 52 instead of the codec unit 54 of the terminal interface unit 50.
Is used. The codec unit 52 is obtained by removing the video encoder 54A from the codec unit 54.

An image data acquisition unit 110 is connected to the modulation / demodulation interface unit 53 and the video decoder 54B of the codec unit 52. The image data capturing unit 110
It includes a photographing unit 18 and a video encoder 54A, and has a structure separable from the mobile phone main body.

The operation of each section of the mobile phone is the same as that of the mobile phone according to the first embodiment. Therefore, the detailed description will not be repeated here.

The embodiments disclosed this time are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, rather than the description above, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.

[0039]

According to the present invention, the use state of the memory is displayed on the display unit. For this reason, it is possible to prevent the memory capacity from running out without the user noticing.

Further, while the user is taking a picture, the warning means is not activated even if the remaining storage capacity of the memory is low. Therefore, the user can perform photographing without any trouble.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a hardware block diagram showing a configuration of a mobile phone according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of display of usable memory capacity.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a display when the remaining memory capacity is reduced.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of a mode setting screen.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a display of usable memory capacity when music information is stored in a memory.

FIG. 6 is a hardware block diagram showing a configuration of a mobile phone according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 antenna, 2 transmitting / receiving unit, 3 modem unit, 10, 7
0 user interface unit, 11 display unit, 12 microphone, 13 speaker, 14 external I / O connector, 1
5 keys, 16 vibrators, 17 external memory interface, 18 imaging unit, 19 short-range wireless communication unit,
Reference Signs List 20 infrared interface, 30 control unit, 31 use state monitoring unit, 32 notification processing unit, 40, 100 memory, 50, 60 terminal interface unit, 51 controller unit, 51A display controller, 51B audio controller, 52, 54 codec unit, 53
Modem interface, 54A video encoder,
54B video decoder, 54C audio codec, 110 image data capturing unit, 200 personal computer.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04Q 7/38 H04B 7/26 109T F-term (Reference) 5B060 AA09 AA12 AA14 AC13 5B082 CA08 CA16 5E501 AA13 AB01 AC15 AC32 BA02 BA03 CA02 DA03 FA13 FA14 FA46 5K027 AA11 BB01 FF01 FF21 HH26 5K067 AA34 BB04 DD52 DD54 EE03 EE35 EE37 FF05 FF23 FF24 FF27 FF28 HH23 KK15

Claims (10)

[Claims] A memory, a display unit for displaying data, a use state monitor connected to the memory, and monitoring a use state of the memory; a use state monitor, connected to the use state monitor and the display unit, A mobile phone including: a notification processing unit configured to display a use state of the memory on the display unit. 2. A warning means for giving an external stimulus to a user of the mobile phone to issue a warning, and when the storage capacity of the memory becomes less than a predetermined capacity, the warning means is provided. The mobile phone of claim 1 including means for operating. 3. The mobile phone according to claim 1, wherein the memory includes a memory detachable from the use state monitoring unit. 4. The mobile phone according to claim 1, wherein said notification processing unit includes means for displaying a storable number of images when the data stored in said memory is still image data. 5. The mobile phone according to claim 1, wherein, when the data stored in the memory is moving image data, the notification processing unit includes means for displaying a storable time of the image. 6. The mobile phone according to claim 1, wherein the notification processing unit includes a unit for displaying a recordable time when the data stored in the memory is sound data. 7. The mobile phone according to claim 1, further comprising a photographing unit connected to the memory, for photographing a still image or a moving image, and storing the photographed image in the memory. 8. A warning means for giving an external stimulus to the user of the mobile phone and issuing a warning, and when the storage capacity of the memory becomes less than a predetermined capacity, the warning means is provided. The mobile phone according to claim 7, further comprising: means for operating; and means for stopping the warning unit when the image capturing unit captures an image. 9. The mobile phone according to claim 1, further comprising a photographing unit connected to the memory, photographing a still image or a moving image, and storing the photographed image in the memory, the photographing unit being detachable from the memory. Phone. 10. The communication device according to claim 1, further comprising an interface for connecting to an external device, wherein the notification processing unit includes a unit for transmitting the use state of the memory to the external device via the interface. 2. The mobile phone according to 1.