Multimode transmission control method and multimode transmission control apparatus

The present invention relates to a multimode transmission control method executed by a communication terminal capable of communicating with a plurality of cellular systems and a multimode mobile communication device using the multimode transmission control method.

Currently, multiple cellular systems such as cdma2000, EV-DO, and W-CDMA have been put into practical use. In the future, even the same cellular system is expected to be operated in different frequency bands such as 800MHz band, 1.7GHz band, and 2GHz band. Then, a multi-mode mobile communication terminal that can be used in such a plurality of cellular systems or a plurality of frequency bands has been developed.

When the power is turned on, the multi-mode mobile communication terminal of each system (including the case where the frequency band used in the same system is different) is in the order based on the priority list information stored in the terminal in advance. The control signal transmitted by the base station is captured, and when synchronization is established, the standby state is entered. In addition, even if the control signal of the system that has been waiting until now is lost (system lost) or it becomes difficult to maintain the standby operation due to deterioration of the radio wave environment, etc., it is captured in the order based on the information in the priority list. It operates and shifts to the standby state with the re-captured system.

A technology that changes the acquisition order of multiple systems according to the reception quality (RSSI or Ec / Io) during standby is known. For example, in Patent Document 1, two systems A and B are registered in the priority list in this order, and if system lost occurs while waiting in system A, the reception quality of system A is better than a certain condition. Is likely to be recaptured by system A, and since it is unknown whether system B exists, the capture operation is repeated in the order of A B, but on the other hand, when the reception quality of system A is worse than a certain condition. Since the probability that system A can recapture is low, it is disclosed that the recapture time is shortened and the power consumption is reduced by performing the capture operation of system B from the beginning without performing the capture operation of system A. There is.<patcit num="1"><text>Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-153325</text></patcit>

<p>However, the method disclosed in Patent Document 1 cannot be applied when the standby system and the transmission system are different. This will be described with reference to the conventional transmission sequence illustrated in FIG. It is assumed that the multimode mobile communication terminal that executes the transmission sequence shown in FIG. 3 can be used in the three systems A, B, and C.</p><p>First, when the outgoing call operation is performed while the system C is in standby mode (S100) (S102), the system A capture operation is performed (S104). If the system A can be captured here, the communication is started by the system A (S106), and if the system A cannot be captured, the system B shifts to the capture operation (S108). If system B can be captured here, communication is started in system B (S110), and if it cannot be captured, the operation shifts to the capture operation of system C (S112). If system C can be captured here, communication is started by system C (S114), and if it cannot be captured, transmission fails and the system shifts to the standby state (S116).</p><p>In a multi-mode mobile communication terminal that performs such an operation, for example, performing the system A capture operation of the S104 in an area where the system A is out of service is a waste of time and power consumption. In this case, it is desirable to shift to the capture operation of system B or C without performing the capture operation of system A. However, unlike the conventional technology, there is generally no correlation between the reception quality of the standby system C and the capture ease of the system A or B, so the acquisition order is changed according to the reception quality at the time of standby. However, there arises a problem that the effects of shortening the recapture time and reducing power consumption cannot be obtained.</p><p>Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and is a multi-mode transmission control method capable of shortening the recapture time and reducing power consumption even when the standby destination cellular system and the destination cellular system are different. And to provide a multi-mode mobile communication terminal.</p>

<p>In order to achieve the above object, in the invention according to claim 1, in a multimode mobile communication device capable of communicating with a plurality of cellular systems but different from the standby cellular system and the calling destination cellular system, a transmission is made when a outgoing call fails. It is characterized by having a storage step for storing failure information and a selection step for selecting a transmission destination cellular system based on the transmission failure information.</p><p>In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is a transmission control method executed in a multimode mobile communication device capable of communicating with a plurality of types of cellular systems. A memory step to memorize outgoing failure information including contents, and<u style="single">Without changing the standby cellular system</u>A call instruction step to instruct a call and<u style="single">A determination step for determining whether or not the current location is in the vicinity of a previously failed transmission failure based on the transmission failure information stored in the storage step in response to the transmission instruction in the transmission instruction step, and the determination step. If the current location is determined to be in the vicinity of the previously unsuccessful call, the remaining cellular systems excluding the previously unsuccessful cellular system from the multiple types of cellular systems</u>It is characterized by having a transmission step of selecting and transmitting a destination cellular system.</p><p>In the invention according to claim 3, which is subordinate to claim 1, the storage step stores the transmission failure information including the transmission failure system information and the transmission failure location information at the time of transmission failure, and the selection step is the transmission failure location. The location indicated by the information is characterized in that the cellular system indicated by the outgoing call failure system information is not selected as the outgoing cellular system.</p><p>In the invention according to claim 3, which is subordinate to claim 1, the storage step stores transmission failure information including transmission failure system information and transmission failure location information at the time of transmission failure.<u style="single">Outgoing</u>The step is characterized in that the cellular system indicated by the outgoing call failure system information is not selected as the outgoing call destination cellular system at the location indicated by the outgoing call failure location information.</p><p> In the invention according to claim 4, which is subordinate to claim 1, the storage step is the transmission failure system information at the time of transmission failure.<u style="single">, Call failure location information and</u>Stores call failure information including call failure time information,<u style="single">The outgoing call step includes a first determination step in which the cellular system indicated by the outgoing call failure system information is not selected as the outgoing call destination cellular system at the location indicated by the outgoing call failure location information, and the time indicated by the outgoing call failure time information. From to the second determination step in which the cellular system indicated in the outgoing call failure system information is not selected as the outgoing cellular system until a predetermined time has elapsed.</u>It is characterized by having.</p><p> In the invention of claim 5, which is subordinate to claim 1, the storage step is<u style="single">Stores call failure information when a call fails more than a set number of times within a set time.</u>It is characterized by that.</p><p>In the invention according to claim 6, which is subordinate to claim 1, the storage step.<u style="single">It has a holding step of holding the outgoing call failure information stored in the above until an explicit deletion operation is performed.</u>It is characterized by that.</p><p>In the invention according to claim 7, which is subordinate to claim 1, the storage step.<u style="single">It has an erasing step of erasing the transmission failure information stored in the above when a predetermined time has elapsed since it was acquired.</u>It is characterized by that.</p><p>In the invention according to claim 8,<u style="single">It is a device that can communicate with multiple types of cellular systems, and each time a call fails, it has a storage means that stores call failure information including the details of the call failure, and a call instruction that instructs the call while waiting in a predetermined cellular system. A cellular system of a transmission destination different from the cellular system waiting from among the plurality of types of cellular systems by referring to the means and the transmission failure information stored in the storage means in response to the transmission instruction of the transmission instruction means. Has a transmission means to select and transmit</u>It is characterized by that.</p>

<p>According to the inventions of claims 1 and 8, every time a transmission fails, the transmission failure information including the content of the transmission failure is stored.<u style="single">Without changing the standby cellular system</u>When you instruct to make a call,<u style="single">Based on the stored call failure information, it is determined whether or not the current location is in the vicinity of the previously failed call, and if the current location is in the vicinity of the previously failed call, multiple types of cellular systems have previously been used. From the remaining cellular systems excluding the cellular system that failed to make a call</u>Since the destination cellular system is selected for transmission, even if the standby destination cellular system and the destination cellular system are different, the recapture time can be shortened and the power consumption can be reduced.</p><p>Claim<u style="single">3</u>According to the invention described in the above, the transmission failure information including the transmission failure system information and the transmission failure location information is stored at the time of transmission failure, and the location indicated by the transmission failure location information is indicated by the transmission failure system information. Since the cellular system is not selected as the destination cellular system, the recapture time can be shortened and the power consumption can be reduced even if the standby destination cellular system and the destination cellular system are different.</p>

Claim<u style="single">4</u>According to the invention described in the above, the transmission failure information including the transmission failure system information, the transmission failure location information and the transmission failure time information is stored at the time of the transmission failure, and the transmission failure system is stored at the location indicated by the transmission failure location information. The cellular system indicated by the information is not selected as the destination cellular system, and the cellular system indicated by the outgoing failure system information is used as the destination cellular system until a predetermined time elapses from the time indicated by the outgoing failure time information. Since it is not selected as the system, even if the standby destination cellular system and the destination cellular system are different, the recapture time can be shortened and the power consumption can be reduced.

The transmission / reception unit 201 transmits and receives radio signals. In addition, the reception level of the signal received from the radio base station, particularly the pilot signal, can be measured. The modulation / demodulation unit 202 modulates / demodulates the data to be transmitted / received. The transmission / reception unit 201 and the modulation / demodulation unit 202 correspond to a plurality of communication methods or frequency bands. The storage unit 203 stores programs, audio, video, mail, web, and other user data, regardless of whether it is a memory built in a communication terminal or an external memory such as a removable memory card. I do not care.

The display unit 204 displays an e-mail, a web, a basic operation screen, or the like on a display screen such as a liquid crystal display. Further, a plurality of display screens such as a main screen and a sub screen may be provided. The key input unit 205 receives input from the user by using a numeric keypad, a function key, a touch panel, voice input, or the like. The voice input / output unit 206 includes a voice input unit such as a microphone that converts the input voice into a signal, and a voice output unit such as a speaker that outputs the voice.

The control unit 207 controls the entire mobile communication terminal, that is, the transmission / reception unit 201, the modulation / demodulation unit 202, the storage unit 203, the display unit 204, the key input unit 205, the voice input / output unit 206, and the like. For example, when the user performs a voice call operation via the key input unit 205, the control unit 207 controls the transmission / reception unit 201 based on the communication line establishment processing program for voice call stored in the storage unit 203. Establish a communication line. When the communication line is established, this is displayed on the display unit 204, the audio signal input from the audio input / output unit 206 is modulated by the modulation / demodulation unit 202, and transmitted to the other party via the transmission / reception unit 201, while the transmission / reception unit Control is performed such that the audio data received via 201 is demodulated by the modulation / demodulation unit 202 and output as an audio signal from the audio input / output unit 206.

(2) Operation Next, the operation of the mobile terminal 200 according to the above configuration will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram showing a transmission sequence of the mobile communication terminal 200. It is assumed that the mobile communication terminal 200, which is the main body of operation, can be used in three different cellular systems A, B, and C. However, this is just an example, and the number of cellular systems that can be used is not limited to three. Further, the cellular system referred to here includes a case where the system is different such as cdma2000, EV-DO, W-CDMA, and wireless LAN, and a case where the frequency band used is different even if the system is the same.

First, when a call operation is performed while the cellular system C is in standby (S300) (S302), the cellular system to be called first is determined (S303). The details will be described later, but the determination is made based on the information recorded when the transmission fails. Therefore, if there is no record of transmission failure, such as at the time of the first transmission, S303 determines that the cellular system A is used for transmission. Alternatively, the determination process is not performed. In either case, move to S304.

In S304, it is determined whether or not the cellular system A can make a call. As a determination method, the capture operation of the cellular system A is performed, and if the capture is possible, it is determined that the transmission is possible, and if the capture is not possible, the transmission is not possible. A method of determining that a call is possible when there is a response of normal termination within an hour, and a method of determining that a call is not possible when there is no response within a predetermined time or when a response indicating an abnormal termination such as an abnormal termination is returned. Can be considered. Here, if it is determined that transmission is possible, communication with the cellular system A is started (S306). On the other hand, when it is determined that the transmission is not possible, the transmission failure information in the cellular system A is stored in the storage unit 203 (S307).

The transmission failure information referred to here is composed of any one of the transmission failure information such as the transmission system type, the transmission time information, the transmission location information, the reason for the transmission failure, and the number of transmission failures, or a combination thereof. The transmission system type is information for identifying a cellular system that has failed to transmit, and in this case, is information indicating "cellular system A". The transmission time information is the time information when it is determined that transmission is not possible (at the start of the determination, at the completion of the determination, or at any time during the determination process), and is the standard time or local time information acquired from the base station, or the movement. Use the number of clocks inside the communication terminal or the value of the counter.

The transmission location information is information on the position of the mobile communication terminal when it is determined that transmission is not possible, and is the latitude / longitude information by GPS, and various IDs and PNs for identifying the base station or base station group that attempted to capture or transmit. There is information. The reason for the transmission failure is information indicating whether the reason for determining that the transmission is impossible is, for example, a system capture failure or a response to the transmission request is not returned. The number of transmission failures represents the number of times that transmission is not possible in succession, or the total number of times it is determined that transmission is not possible within a predetermined time.

After storing the outgoing call failure information in the cellular system A, it is determined whether or not the outgoing call can be made in the cellular system B (S308). The determination method is the same as that of S304. Here, if it is determined that transmission is possible, communication with the cellular system B is started (S310). On the other hand, when it is determined that the transmission is not possible, the transmission failure information in the cellular system B is stored in the storage unit 203 (S311). The transmission failure information is the same as described in S307. After storing the outgoing call failure information in the cellular system B, it is determined whether or not the outgoing call can be made in the cellular system C (S312). The determination method is the same as S304 and S308. Here, if it is determined that transmission is possible, communication with the cellular system C is started (S314). On the other hand, if it is determined that the call cannot be made, the call fails and the state shifts to the standby state (S316).

The above is the basic sequence at the time of transmission, but the transmission system determination process of S303 will be specifically described. As described above, here, the determination process is performed based on the transmission failure information stored in the storage unit 203 in S307 and S311. As an example of the determination method, there is a method in which a transmission fails in a certain system before, and when a new transmission is made in the vicinity of the place, the transmission is not made in that system but is made in another system.

This will be described more specifically. It is assumed that the failure to make a call on System A at a certain location remains in the call failure information. First, the "place where the call failed before" is acquired from the call location information in the call failure information. On the other hand, the current location is obtained from GPS and base stations. There are various types of information that represent a location. For example, if it is represented as latitude / longitude information, the distance between two points is calculated, and when the value is smaller than a predetermined value, it is determined to be "neighborhood". To do. Further, for example, if it is represented as a base station identifier (base station ID, PN number, etc.) that covers the position, it is determined to be "neighborhood" when each base station identifier matches. Alternatively, the geographical information of the base station is calculated from the identifier of the base station, and whether or not it is "neighboring" is determined from the distance between the two points.

Here, in the method of calculating the geographical information of each base station from the base station identifier such as the base station ID and the PN number, the correspondence information between the base station identifier and the geographical information is stored in the storage unit 203 in advance. There is a method of acquiring from the network side via the transmission / reception unit 201 and the modulation / demodulation unit 202. In this way, when making a call in the vicinity of a place where the call in system A failed before, it is expected that the call in system A will also fail in the same way, so the call in system A is performed. Instead, it immediately shifts to system B or system C outgoing operation (S308 or S312). By doing so, it is possible to shorten the recapture time and reduce the power consumption.

As another example of the transmission system determination process of S303, there is a method in which when a transmission fails in a certain system and a transmission is made within a predetermined time, the transmission is not performed in that system but is transmitted in another system. This will be described more specifically. It is assumed that the time information when the transmission in the system A fails before remains in the transmission failure information. By comparing the "time when the call failed before" and the "current time", it is determined whether or not the predetermined time has passed. The predetermined time here is stored in the storage unit 203 in advance, or is acquired from the network side via the transmission / reception unit 201 and the modulation / demodulation unit 202.

In this way, if only a predetermined time has passed since the transmission in system A failed before, there is no big change in the radio wave condition, and there is a high possibility that the transmission in system A will fail in the same way. As expected, the system A does not make a call and immediately shifts to the call operation in system B or system C (S308 or S312). As a result, the recapture time can be shortened and the power consumption can be reduced.

In addition to the above example, a method of determining using both the place and time when the transmission failed can be considered. As a result, the recapture time can be shortened and the power consumption can be reduced. Further, in the above example, instead of recording the transmission failure information when the transmission in a certain system fails once, the transmission failure information is continuously failed a predetermined number of times, or the transmission fails a predetermined number of times within a predetermined time. When a large number of transmission failures occur, the transmission failure information may be recorded and the transmission system determination process of S303 may be performed with reference to this. As a result, the recapture time can be shortened and the power consumption can be reduced.

The transmission failure information recorded in S307 and S311 may be retained until an explicit deletion operation is performed. As a result, the effects of shortening the recapture time and reducing power consumption can be enhanced.

Further, it may be deleted after the transmission system determination process of S303 is completed, or may be deleted when communication is started in any of the systems (S306, S310, S314). As a result, the amount of memory used for storing transmission failure information can be reduced.

In addition, it may be deleted when it is away from the place where the transmission failure information is acquired. Specifically, when the distance between the place where the transmission failure information is acquired and the current location exceeds a predetermined distance, or when the transmission failure information is acquired, the base station is different from the base station identifier of the base station that was communicating. There is a method such as deleting the transmission failure information when the user moves into the service area of the base station having the identifier. As a result, the amount of memory used for storing transmission failure information can be reduced.

Further, the transmission failure information may be deleted after a predetermined time has elapsed after the acquisition. As a result, the amount of memory used for storing transmission failure information can be reduced.

<figref num="1">It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the mobile communication terminal by one Embodiment of this invention.</figref><figref num="2">It is a sequence diagram which shows the transmission sequence of the mobile communication terminal by one Embodiment.</figref><figref num="3">It is a sequence diagram which shows the transmission sequence by a conventional example.</figref>

Code description

200 mobile communication terminal 201 Transmitter / receiver 202 Modulation / demodulation section 203 Memory 204 Display 205 Key input section 206 Audio input / output section 207 Control unit