JPH02206232A - Retrieval system for control channel in mobile communication - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the power consumption of a mobile equipment by allowing the mobile equipment to turn off a power supply for a prescribed circuit section for a prescribed time when no available control channel exists even with the retrieval of each control channel and to turn on the power supply of the circuit section again after a prescribed time elapses. CONSTITUTION:A mobile equipment recognizes that the mobile equipment goes to the outside from an in-zone control channel area located so far when the reception level of the control channel is reduced. Then the mobile equipment receives a signal while all control channels are being sequentially switched to measure a reception level. When the mobile equipment exists at a point 4 at the outside of the service area, there is not control channel available to receive at a level over the specified value. When the mobile equipment confirms the absence of the control channel, a timer 14 is started in a control circuit 8 to turn off the power supply. When the timer 14 counts a prescribed time, the power supply is tuned on again, all the control channels are switched sequentially to receive the level and the control channel is similarly retrieved.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a control channel search method that can reduce power consumption when a mobile device is waiting for communication, and a technique for implementing the mobile device.

[Conventional technology]

A so-called intermittent reception method is a conventional technique for reducing power consumption during standby of a mobile device.

This is a method that divides mobile stations into multiple groups, and when calling a mobile station using a control channel, by dividing the timing of the call for each group, the mobile stations of each group can use the control channel only during the call timing of their own group. The receiver is powered off at the timing when it receives a message and calls a group other than its own.

To achieve this, the mobile device and the base station are provided with accurate timekeeping circuits, and the mobile device is synchronized with the base station to perform intermittent reception.

On the other hand, for control channels, a method is generally adopted in which a plurality of channels with different frequencies are used for each region, so that the control channel of any one frequency covers the entire service area.

In this method, when a mobile device moves from one 'I control channel area to another control channel area with a different frequency, the mobile device disconnects the control channel it has been receiving and It is necessary to explore.

At the prefectural level, the following methods are generally adopted.

The mobile device learns that it is moving from one control channel area to another because the reception level of the control channel it is receiving falls below a specified value. The mobile device sequentially switches and receives all stored control channels, determines the control channel that can be received at the maximum reception level as the control channel of the transfer destination control channel area, and thereafter waits on this control channel.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, the service area of mobile communication systems is generally limited in size, and there are usually areas where radio waves of any control channel cannot be received. In this case, the control channel will continue to be searched cyclically until the control channel can be received.

When the control channel could be received, intermittent reception was performed in synchronization with the base station, but the receiver was always powered on during this searching time, which had the disadvantage that power consumption could not be reduced. Ta.

That is, even if a receivable control channel is not found even after searching for a control channel, the power of the receiver cannot be turned off. This is because the mobile device may move to an area where the control channel can be received again, so in preparation for this, turn on the power of the receiver and
Need to continue searching for control channel.

An object of the present invention is to provide a control channel search method and a mobile device that can reduce power consumption during control channel search.

[Means to solve the problem]

According to the invention, the above objects are achieved by the means specified in the claims.

That is, the present invention provides that the invention described in claim 1 can be used even if each control channel is searched when the mobile device selects a control channel that can be used in the area where the mobile device is located from among a plurality of control channels. If there is no control channel, the mobile device turns off the power of a predetermined circuit section including the receiving section for a certain period of time, turns on the power of the circuit section again after a certain period of time, and searches for an available control channel. This is a method for searching for a control channel in mobile communication, and the invention according to claim 2 is a method for searching for a control channel by immediately turning on the power even during a power off period in response to an operation instruction from a mobile device user. 2. The method of searching for a control channel in mobile communication according to claim 1, wherein:

[For production]

The present invention is characterized in that the power consumption of a mobile device that is searching for a control channel is reduced by periodically turning on/off the power supply of the receiving section of the mobile device, etc., without having to keep it on at least all the time.

When a mobile station moves from one control channel area to another, it can find a new control channel by sequentially switching all control channels at least once and comparing the reception levels. ,
If you move out of the area of any control channel, that is, if you move out of the service area, a new control channel will not be found even if all control channels are switched and received.

Furthermore, since this state continues until the mobile device moves and enters the service area again, it generally does not end within a short period of time.

For example, when returning to the service area after 10 minutes, in the conventional method, by constantly searching for a control channel, after entering the service area and after the time required for one round of control channel search (for example, 10 seconds), A new control channel can be found.

That is, after 10 minutes and 10 seconds, the standby state can be entered again on the control channel.

In the case of the present invention, the mobile device periodically turns on and off the receiving section, for example, the receiver power inside the mobile device is turned on and off at 10-second/30-second intervals while searching for a control channel. If this is the case, it will take a maximum of 10 minutes + 30 seconds + 10 seconds = 10 minutes and 40 seconds to enter the standby state on a new control channel.

However, this is not much different from the above-mentioned 10 minutes and 10 seconds.Therefore, even if the power of the receiver is turned off for about several tens of seconds, no practical problem will occur.

Taking advantage of this, the present invention periodically turns on and off the power of the receiver, etc. when the mobile device enters a control channel search operation, and only switches the control channel while the mobile device is turned on. This is different from the conventional technology, which performs intermittent reception only when synchronized with the base station through the control channel.

〔Example〕

Figure 1 is a diagram explaining the control channel area, Figure 2 is a diagram explaining the control channel area.
The figure is a diagram for explaining one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the control circuit 8 in FIG. 2.

In each figure, 1 2 3 is a control channel area, 4 is a point other than the service area, 5 is an antenna, 6 is a transmitter/receiver duplexer, 7 is a receiver, 8 is a control circuit, 9 is a transmitter, and 10 is a handset , 11 is a control line, 12 is a processor, 13 is a memory, 14 is a timer, and 15 is an input/output circuit.

Further, FIG. 4 shows the control channel search operation of the mobile station at 70-
It is a figure which shows a chart.

In FIG. 2, a mobile device receives radio waves from a base station with an antenna 5, passes through a transmitter/receiver splitter 6, demodulates and receives them with a receiver 7, and a control circuit 8 measures the reception level and controls the control channel. The 0 call signal, which processes the information, reaches the handset 10 via the control circuit 8.

Conversely, a call signal from the mobile device is transmitted from the handset 10 through the control circuit 8 and sent to IS! 9 to 1! It reaches the base station via the transmitting/receiving branch n6 and five antennas.

An example of the configuration of the control circuit 8 is shown in FIG.

The control operation of the control circuit 8 is processed by the processor 12, and its processing program is stored in the memory 13.

Further, the control circuit 8 includes a timer 14 that determines the power on/off cycle of the receiver 817 and the like, and this timer 14 controls the power on/off of the receiver and the like.

First, the mobile device uses the control channel area 1.2 shown in FIG.
．． The case where the openings of 3 are mutually moved will be explained.

The mobile device learns that it is moving out of the control channel area where it has been until now because the reception level of the control channel has decreased.

Thereafter, the mobile device sequentially switches and receives all control channels and measures the reception level.

Because the mobile device is in another control channel area, at least one or more control channels, including the control channel in this area, are received at a level higher than the specified value, so the maximum reception level among these is The control channel is determined, and the standby state is returned to on this control channel.

In general, the case where the mobile device moves from the control channel area 1g2 or 1g3 to point 4 outside the service area shown in FIG. 1 will be explained.

Since the reception level of the control channel has decreased, the mobile device knows that it is moving out of the [1 control channel area] where it has been.

Thereafter, the mobile device sequentially switches and receives the four control channels and measures the reception level.

However, since the mobile device is located at point 4 outside the service area, there is no control channel that can be received at a level higher than the specified value.

The mobile device switches all control channels to receive data, and when it confirms that there is no control channel with a reception level higher than the specified value, it starts the timer 14 in the control circuit 8 shown in the MS3 diagram, and the receiver 7 and the control circuit The processor 12, memory 13, and input/output circuit 15 in the processor 8 are turned off.

When the timer 14 has counted a certain period of time, the receiver 7, the processor 12, the memory 13 and the upstream input/output circuit 15 are turned on again, and all control channels are sequentially switched and received.
Control channels are searched in the same manner below. If the mobile device moves further and returns to the service area, the control channel in that area can be received at the maximum level, so the standby state returns to the standby state using this control channel.

If the power off time is 30 seconds and the time required to switch all control channels and receive reception is 10 seconds, the power on time ratio of the receiver etc. will be "10/ (30 + 10) = 1/4", and it will be impossible to go outside the service area. The average power consumption when a mobile device is out is 1/4 that of the conventional system.

The operations described above are shown in chart 70 of FIG.

In the embodiment described above, the mobile device does not search for a new control channel for at most 30 seconds after returning to the service area, and in order to further reduce average power consumption,
If the off time of the receiver etc. is set to 1 minute or 2 minutes, etc., this time cannot be ignored.

In other words, a person who is accustomed to using a mobile communication device can immediately determine whether he or she has returned to the service area, and even if he or she wants to use it immediately, if the mobile device is operating at intervals where the receiver is off, It cannot be used until the next turn-on timing comes.

Therefore, we have improved the above inconvenient points and made it even easier to use.
A second embodiment will be explained.

That is, a push button or the like is provided near the handset 10 or the like in a location that is easy for the mobile subscriber to operate, and when the button is pressed, the power is immediately turned on even if the receiver or the like is powered off. Then, search for a control channel.

Of course, the pushbutton may be replaced by one of the group buttons, or the power source may be turned on by, for example, taking the handset off-hook in order to make a call.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the average power consumption when the mobile device moves out of the service area can be significantly reduced, so there is an advantage that the battery charging cycle can be extended.

Furthermore, since the search for a control channel can be started immediately according to the intention of the mobile device user, there is an advantage that the waiting time until the mobile device becomes available for use can be shortened.

It is a figure showing a low chart.

1.2.3 ... Control channel area, 4
・・・・・・Points other than service area 5・・・・・・
Antenna, 6... Transmission/reception duplexer, 7
...Receiver, 8 ...Control circuit, 9 ...Transmitter, 10 ...
...Handset, 11 ...Control line, 12
...Processor, 13 ...Memory, 14 ...Timer, 15 ...
...Input/output circuit agent Patent attorney Takashi Honma

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a diagram explaining the control channel area, Figure 2 is a diagram explaining the control channel area.
The figure is a diagram explaining one embodiment of the present invention, and the tlS3 diagram is a diagram explaining an embodiment of the present invention.
A diagram showing an example of the configuration of the control circuit shown in the figure.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. When selecting a control channel that can be used in the area where a mobile device is located from among a plurality of control channels, if there is no usable control channel even after searching each control channel, is characterized in that the mobile device turns off the power of a predetermined circuit section including the receiving section for a certain period of time, turns on the power of the circuit section again after the elapse of a certain period of time, and searches for an available control channel. control channel search method for mobile communications. 2. Searching for a control channel in mobile communication according to claim 1, wherein the mobile device immediately turns on the power and starts searching for a control channel even during a power-off period according to an operation instruction from a mobile device user. method.