JPH10276480A - Remote control system - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Problem] Eliminates the need for remote control for peripheral devices such as in-vehicle navigation, TV, radio, and air conditioner.
A system that makes effective use of mobile phones. A vehicle-mounted navigation unit, a radio unit, and the like are connected to a control unit. The control unit 12 receives a remote control signal from the mobile phone 1 and drives a unit specified by the remote control signal. Since a remote controller for driving each unit is not required individually and the mobile phone 1 can be used for a telephone call and a remote controller, it can be effectively used.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a remote control system for remotely controlling an electronic device such as a television and a radio using a portable telephone for wireless communication.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the recent development of digital communication technology,
The driving of electric appliances such as televisions and radios at home can be controlled by remote control using a remote controller. The same applies to a navigation device, a radio device, and other peripheral devices mounted on a vehicle. Remote control in a vehicle is enabled by using a remote controller. Such remote control of various peripheral devices can be performed by preparing a remote control dedicated to the devices.

[0003] Further, with the development of digital communication technology, portable telephones for performing wireless communication have become widespread. As for this portable telephone, many hand-free telephones have been developed which allow a user to talk while holding a car while driving.

[0004]

However, in order to operate a peripheral device by a remote controller, a remote controller of another device cannot be operated, and a remote controller dedicated to the device is required. For this reason, the same number of remote controllers as the number of peripheral devices are required, and the number of remote controllers is increased, and the selection thereof is troublesome. This is a particular problem in automobiles where the space is narrow and it is difficult to secure a space for accommodating a remote controller. In addition, since a remote controller is required for each peripheral device, the cost of the peripheral device is increased.

On the other hand, portable telephones are dedicated to wireless communication, such as wireless telephone calls, wireless facsimile, etc., and are versatile devices that cannot be used for other purposes. I have.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and enables the control of driving of various peripheral devices such as a television and a radio by a radio telephone, thereby reducing the number of remote controllers. It is an object of the present invention to provide a remote control system capable of increasing the versatility of a mobile phone.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is directed to a portable telephone capable of switching between a call mode and a remote control mode, and a remote control transmitted from the portable telephone in the remote control mode. A peripheral device whose driving is controlled by a signal.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the remote control system according to the first aspect, wherein the portable telephone forcibly ends the remote control mode when an incoming call and an outgoing call are interrupted. I do.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the remote control system according to the first or second aspect, wherein the ten keys for performing a dial operation also serve as operation keys in a remote control mode.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the remote control system according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the peripheral device includes at least an air conditioner unit, a radio unit, a television unit, and a navigation unit mounted on an automobile. And a control unit which is connected to these peripheral units and receives the remote control signal from the mobile phone to drive the peripheral units.

[0011]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, in the call mode, the portable telephone can perform a normal wireless call. In the remote control mode, a remote control signal can be transmitted, and the transmission controls peripheral devices. For this reason, the mobile phone performs wireless communication and remote control of peripheral devices wirelessly, so that the versatility of the mobile phone increases. Further, since the peripheral devices are remotely controlled by the mobile phone, a dedicated remote controller is not required, and the number of remote controllers can be reduced.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the remote control mode is forcibly terminated by the incoming and outgoing telephone calls, so that even if there is an incoming or outgoing call during the operation of the remote control, the telephone call can be reliably performed, and Does not impair the function.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the ten keys also serve as operation keys in the remote control mode, there is no need for a key dedicated to the remote control mode, so that the number of keys is reduced and the size of the portable telephone becomes large and complicated. There is no.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the portable telephone remotely controls various peripheral units mounted on the automobile, a remote controller for each peripheral unit is unnecessary, and the number of remote controllers is reduced.

[0015] Each peripheral unit of the car is
Since it is connected to a control unit to which a remote control signal from a mobile phone is input, remote control to peripheral units only needs to be performed for the control unit, and does not need to be performed for each peripheral unit. Therefore, operability is improved.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an automobile will be specifically described below. FIG. 1 shows a configuration of this embodiment, and FIG. 2 shows a block diagram thereof.
Is a mobile phone.

The mobile phone 1 has a communication antenna 2, and the communication antenna 2 enables wireless communication with the radio base station 3. The wireless base station 3 is connected to the other party's telephone 4 via a commercial telephone line 5, and the mobile phone 1 can communicate with the other party's telephone 4 via the wireless base station 2.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 6 denotes a peripheral device mounted on an automobile. The peripheral device 6 includes a navigation unit 7, a radio unit 8, a television unit 9, a television unit 9 as shown in FIGS. Air conditioning unit 10,
Other units 11 are included. Other units 11 include a door lock unit, a trunk opening unit, a seat reclining unit, and the like.

These various units 7, 8,
9, 10, and 11 are connected to the control unit 12 by electric wires. The control unit 12
It has a receiving antenna 13, receives a remote control signal transmitted wirelessly from the wireless telephone 1, and drives the corresponding unit by this reception. That is, in this embodiment, the mobile phone 1 does not individually transmit a remote control signal to each unit, but transmits a remote control signal only to the control unit 12. The control unit 12 controls the driving of each unit based on the remote control signal. The control unit 12 is housed in an appropriate place such as a trunk, a cabin, or the like.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 19 denotes a telephone adapter, which connects the portable telephone 1 and the control unit 12 by wire. The mobile phone 1 is a telephone adapter 1
9 to output a remote control signal to the control unit 12. Therefore, the mobile phone 1 can select, by key operation, output from the antenna 13 or output via the telephone adapter 19.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the operation. The mobile phone 1 can select one of a call mode and a remote control mode. In the call mode, a wireless call can be made via the wireless base station 3. In the remote control mode, the various units 7, 8,
The drive of 9, 10, 11 can be controlled.

In step S1 of FIG. 3, it is determined whether or not the portable telephone 1 is being used as a telephone. When not in use, the portable telephone 1 is in a state of waiting for an operation input (step S2). In this state, by operating the keys and selecting the remote control mode (step S3), the remote control mode of steps S4 to S8 is established. The transition to the remote control mode is performed, for example, by continuously pressing the end key twice. In this step S3, when no key operation for shifting to the remote control mode has been performed for a certain period of time, the mode is not set to the remote control mode, and the process returns to step S1.

In the remote control mode, the contents of the operation are displayed on the screen (step S4), and the operation waits for a key operation (step S5). In step S5, it is always determined whether or not the remote control mode has ended (step S6). When the remote control mode has ended, the process returns to step S1. The end of the remote control operation is performed, for example, by continuously pressing the end key three times.

If a key operation other than the end of the remote control mode is performed in step S5, it is determined whether or not the operation is invalid (step S7). If invalid, the process returns to step S5 to wait for key operation. On the other hand, if the key operation is valid, the process proceeds to step S8, and processing corresponding to the key operation, for example, selection of a unit to be driven, selection of the driving content of the selected unit, and the like are performed.

In the above remote control mode, when an incoming call is received or an outgoing call operation is performed, an interrupt signal is output (step S9). The process ends (step S10). Therefore, the call can be given priority, and the function as the telephone is not impaired.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show the display contents in the remote control mode. As shown in FIG. 1, the mobile phone 1
A display panel 14 for displaying operation contents and a numeric keypad 15 to be pressed for dial operation are arranged. FIG.
Is used as an operation key in the remote control mode.

As described above, by using the numeric keypad 15 as an operation key of the remote controller, a key for operating the remote controller becomes unnecessary. Therefore, the number of keys as a whole is the same as that of the ordinary mobile phone 1, and the number of keys does not increase, and the size and complexity of the mobile phone 1 due to the key arrangement does not increase. At the same time, the operability of the keys is improved.

The embodiment of FIG. 4 has a structure in which each of the ten keys 15 can display the contents of the remote control mode. To perform this display, each of the numeric keys 15 is formed by a liquid crystal panel.

In FIG. 4, the display panel 14 displays a normal screen for a call. When the remote control mode is set as shown in the flowchart of FIG.
As shown by A, the names of the respective units mounted on the automobile are displayed.

In this display state, when the "navi" display key is pressed, the navigation unit 7 is driven via the control unit 12, and the numeric keypad 15 is switched to the operation display for performing navigation as indicated by B. Then, the navigation is started by pressing a necessary key.

When the numeric keypad 15 is in the A display state, "TV"
When the notation key is pressed, the control unit 1
The television unit 9 is driven via the keypad 2 and the numeric keypad 15
Switches to the numerical display of the channel for channel selection as shown by C.

When the numeric keypad 15 is in the display state of A,
When the "radio" display key is pressed, the radio unit is similarly driven via the control unit 12, and the numeric keypad 15 switches to the channel selection display as shown by D.

Further, when the numeric keypad 15 is in the display state of A,
When the "air conditioner" display key is pressed, the air conditioner unit 10 is similarly driven via the control unit 12, and the numeric keypad 15 is switched to the operation display of the air conditioner as indicated by E.

FIG. 5 shows a mode in which the display panel 14 is a touch panel 16. Although illustration is omitted,
In this embodiment, a signal is output when the electrodes embedded vertically and horizontally contact the touch panel 16.

In the call mode, the touch panel 1
6, that is, the display panel 14 displays a normal screen of a call as indicated by F. When in remote control mode,
The display screen of the touch panel 16 is divided into two as shown by G, and one side displays the numeric keypad 17, while the other side becomes a display screen 18 that displays characters of the unit to be driven.

In this state, for example, “T
Key of the numeric keypad 17 corresponding to "V mode",
When one of 2, 3 is pressed, the control unit 1
The television unit 9 is driven via the control unit 2. As a result, the display screen 18 is switched to the channel selection display as shown by H.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the ten keys 17 for dial operation are also used as operation keys of the remote controller, so that the number of keys does not increase similarly to FIG.

The present invention can be similarly applied to televisions, radios, washing machines, and other peripheral devices used in homes. In this case, a receiver for receiving a remote control signal of a specific frequency is arranged in each peripheral device, and a remote control signal of that frequency is selected and transmitted from the mobile phone side, thereby selecting a peripheral device to be driven. Can be.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of one embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation of the mobile phone.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing an example of switching a numeric keypad.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing another example of switching the numeric keypad.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cellular phone 6 Peripheral device 7 Navigation unit 8 Radio unit 9 Television unit 10 Air conditioning unit 11 Other units 12 Control unit 15 Numeric keys 17 Numeric keys

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A mobile phone capable of switching between a call mode and a remote control mode, and a peripheral device whose driving is controlled by a remote control signal transmitted from the mobile phone in the remote control mode. Remote control system. 2. The remote control system according to claim 1, wherein the mobile phone forcibly ends the remote control mode when an incoming call or an outgoing call is interrupted. 3. The remote control system according to claim 1, wherein the numeric keypad for performing a dial operation also serves as an operation key in a remote control mode. 4. The remote control system according to claim 1, wherein the peripheral device is at least one of an air conditioner unit, a radio unit, a television unit, and a navigation unit mounted on an automobile. And a control unit connected to these peripheral units and receiving the remote control signal from the mobile phone to drive the peripheral units.