Abstract:
A mobile unit communication apparatus (COMM APP) having digital and analog transmission (XMSN) modes is disclosed, which comprises: a radio wave XMSN and receiving portion including an antenna for transmitting digital and analog XMSN signals in the digital and analog XMSN modes respectively; a signal (SIG) processing portion including a DSP portion and an ASIC portion for processing the received digital and analog XMSN SIGs in the digital and analog COMM modes respectively; an input and output portion for inputting an input SIG and outputting an output SIG from the digital XMSN SIG from the digital processing portion in the digital COMM mode and from the analog XMSN SIG from the ASIC portion in the analog COMM mode; and a supply power saving portion for operating the ASIC portion and not operating the digital SIG processing portion in the analog COMM mode to reduce a consumption of the supply power. This APP may further comprise: a waiting condition detection portion for detecting a waiting condition and a clock SIG control portion for decreasing a frequency of the clock SIG supplied to the ASIC portion in the analog COMM mode in the waiting condition. This APP intermittently stops supplying the supply power to the ASIC portion for a given interval when it is detected that two successive words in a data stream in forward control channel includes the same data and corresponding method is also disclosed.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to a mobile unit communication apparatus having digital and analog communication modes and a method of controlling the same. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     A mobile unit communication apparatus having digital and analog communication modes for communicating with a network through a base station in either of digital or analog communication mode is known. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The aim of the present invention is to provide an improved mobile unit communication apparatus having digital and analog communication modes and an improved method of controlling the same. 
     According to the present invention, a mobile unit communication apparatus having digital and analog communication modes is provided, which comprises: a radio wave transmission and receiving portion including an antenna for transmitting digital and analog transmission signals in the digital and analog communication modes respectively; a signal processing portion including a digital signal processing (DSP) portion and an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) portion for processing the received digital and analog transmission signals in the digital and analog communication modes respectively; an input and output portion for inputting an input signal and outputting an output signal from the digital transmission signal from the digital processing portion in the digital communication mode and from the analog transmission signal from the ASIC portion in the analog communication mode, the digital signal processing portion further processing the input signal which is transmitted by the radio wave transmission and receiving portion in the digital communication mode, the ASIC portion further processing the input signal which is transmitted by the radio wave transmission and receiving portion in the analog communication mode; a power supply portion including a battery for supplying a supply power; and a supply power saving portion for operating the ASIC portion and not operating the digital signal processing portion in the analog communication mode to reduce a consumption of the supply power. 
     This mobile unit communication apparatus may further comprise: a waiting condition detection portion for detecting a waiting condition of reception and transmission of a call, the ASIC portion being responsive to a clock signal; and a clock signal control portion for decreasing a frequency of the clock signal in the analog communication mode when the waiting condition detects the waiting condition. 
     In that mobile unit communication apparatus, the analog transmission signal may include a forward control channel repeatedly bearing a data stream including top data and recurrent words, each including predetermined data, the mobile unit communication apparatus further comprising: a data detecting portion for detecting data of two successive recurrent words; a comparing portion for comparing detected data of two successive words following the top data from the data detecting portion; and a supply power controlling portion for stopping supplying the supply power to the ASIC portion for a predetermined interval before the next top data when the detected data of the two successive recurrent words agree with each other. 
     According to the present invention, a method of controlling a mobile unit communication apparatus having digital and analog communication modes is provided, which comprises the steps of: providing a radio wave transmission and receiving portion including an antenna for transmitting digital and analog transmission signals in the digital and analog communication modes respectively; providing a signal processing portion including a digital signal processing (DSP) portion and an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) portion for processing the received digital and analog transmission signals in the digital and analog communication modes respectively; providing an input and output portion for inputting an input signal and outputting an output signal from the digital transmission signal from the digital processing portion in the digital communication mode and from the analog transmission signal from the ASIC portion in the analog communication mode, the digital signal processing portion further processing the input signal which is transmitted by the radio wave transmission and receiving portion in the digital communication mode, the ASIC portion further processing the input signal which is transmitted by the radio wave transmission and receiving portion in the analog communication mode; providing a power supply portion including a battery for supplying a supply power, the analog transmission signal including a forward control channel repeatedly bearing data stream, each including top data and recurrent words, each including predetermined data; detecting data of two successive the recurrent words; comparing detected data of two successive words following the top data from the data detecting portion; and stopping supplying the supply power to the ASIC portion for a predetermined interval before the next top data when the detected data of the two successive recurrent words agree with each other. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The object and features of the present invention will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a mobile unit communication apparatus having digital and analog communication modes of this invention; 
     FIG. 2 is an illustration of this invention showing a data format of the control channel of the analog communication; 
     FIG. 3 depicts a flow chart of a first embodiment showing an operation of the microprocessor shown in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 4 depicts a flow chart of a second embodiment showing an operation of the microprocessor shown in FIG. 1; and 
     FIG. 5 is an illustration of the second embodiment showing the operation of the intermittent stopping the supply power. 
    
    
     The same or corresponding elements or parts are designated with like references throughout the drawings. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     A first embodiment of this invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a mobile unit communication apparatus having digital and analog communication modes of this invention. 
     The mobile unit communication apparatus of this embodiment comprises a microphone  81  for receiving a sound and generating a sound signal, a speaker  82  for reproducing a sound from a sound signal from a received signal, a PCM codec circuit  80  for a/d converting the sound signal from the microphone  81  and d/a converting the received signal to a sound signal supplied to the speaker  82 , a switching circuit  94  for supplying the sound signal from the microphone  81  to the PCM codec circuit  80  and the d/a-converted received signal to the speaker  82  in the digital communication mode and bypassing the PCM codec circuit  80  in the analog communication mode, a baseband portion  30  for processing a digital baseband signal and an analog baseband signal, and a radio frequency (RF) portion  10  for modulating and transmitting a transmission signal and receiving and demodulating a reception signal, a clock generator  71  for supplying a clock signal to the baseband portion  30 , and a microprocessor (MPU)  70  for controlling the baseband portion  30 , the clock generator  71 , the radio frequency portion  10 , and the PCM codec  80 . 
     The radio frequency portion  10  comprises an antenna  15  for transmitting the transmission signal and receiving the reception signal, a duplexer  16  for simultaneously transmitting and receiving, an front end circuit  14  for amplifying the reception signal from the antenna  15  via the duplexer  16 , a demodulator  11  for demodulating the reception signal digitaly modulated, an FM (frequency modulation) demodulator  12  for FM-demodulating the reception signal, an IF demodulator  13  for intermediate-frequency-demodulating the reception signal from the demodulator  11  or the FM demodulator  12 , a reference frequency generator (TCXO)  18  for generating a reference frequency signal, a frequency synthesizer  17  for generating a frequency signal for receiving from the reference frequency signal, a frequency synthesizer  19  for generating a frequency signal for transmission from the reference frequency signal, a modulator (TX MOD)  21  for modulating a transmission signal, and a power amplifier  20  for amplifying the transmission signal from the modulator  21  and supplying it to the antenna  15  via the duplexer  16 . 
     The baseband portion  30  comprises a DSP (digital signal processor) portion  40 , an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit ) portion  50 , an interface portion  31  for effecting interfacing between the RF portion  10  and the base band portion  30 , and an interface portion  32  for effecting interfacing between the baseband portion  30  and the microprocessor  70  and the PCM codec circuit  80 . 
     The ASIC portion  50  effects an operation by only hardware, i.e., by a non-programed operation, for providing an analog communication protocol and comprises a transmission sound processing system including a compressing portion (COMP)  51  for compressing an amplitude of an input sound signal from the microphone  81  via the switching circuit  94 , a pre-emphasizing portion (PREEM)  52  for emphasizing a high frequency component of the sound signal, a limiter portion (DEV LIMIT)  53  for amplitude-limiting an output of the pre-emphasizing portion  52 , a post-limiter (POST LIM)  54  for removing harmonic components of an output of the limiter portion  53  and a transmission data processing system including a BCH encoder (BCH ENC)  55  for encoding the transmission data from the microprocessor  70  to generate a BCH code, a data format portion (DATA FORMAT)  56  for providing a predetermined transmission format to the transmission data, a Manchester encode portion (MANC ENC)  57  for generating a Manchester code, a signal tone generating portion (ST GENE)  58  for generating a signaling tone and adding the signaling tone to the transmission data from the Manchester encode portion  57 , and a switch (SW)  59  for supplying either of the transmission data, the transmission sound data, or a supervisory tone mentioned later to the RF portion  10 . 
     The ASIC portion  50  further comprises a reception signal processing system: including a discriminator portion (DECIM)  60  for generating a discriminated baseband signal from an output of the RF portion  10  and a transmission and a reception SAT processing portion  62  for detecting a reception supervisory signal from the discriminated baseband signal and judging it and generating a transmission supervisory signal and supplying the transmission supervisory signal to the switch  59 ; a reception sound signal processing system for processing a reception sound signal including a de-emphasis processing portion (DEEM)  61  for de-emphasizing an output of the discriminated baseband signal from the discriminator portion  60  to restore the output which high-frequency component emphasized by the pre-emphasis processing to the original signal and an expanding circuit (EXPAN)  68  for expanding the signal amplitude of the reception sound data compressed by the compressor processing; and a control data processing system for processing control data transmitted from a base station including a Manchester decode/bit synchronizing portion (MANCDEC BIT SYNC)  63  for reproducing a synchronizing signal (clock/data) for synchronization with the base station from the discriminated baseband signal from the discriminator portion  60 , a ward synchronizing detection processing portion (WD SYNC)  67  for detecting data of a word synchronizing to effect the synchronizing processing, a B/I detection/seizing processing portion (B/I PROC)  64  for detecting Busy/Idle (B/I) bit inserted into a data stream of a forward control channel transmitted to the mobile unit from the base station and effecting a seizing processing, that is, a control of a start and stop of a transmission data from a timing of the detection of the Busy/Idle bit, a majority vote judging portion (MAJ VOTE)  65  for a majority vote processing to data after the Busy/Idle data is extracted, and a BCH correction processing portion  66  for effecting a bit correction processing (restoring a damaged bits). 
     In this mobile unit communication apparatus, the processing for the digital communication through a digital transmission signal is effected by the DSP portion  40 , and the processing for the analog communication through an analog transmission signal is effected by the ASIC portion  50 . During the analog communication, an operation of the DSP portion  40  is stopped and only the ASIC portion  50  is operated to perform only the hardware processing. 
     When the sound data is transmitted in the analog communication mode, the sound inputted from the microphone  81  is directly supplied to the compression circuit  51  and processed by the compression circuit  51 , the pre-emphasizing portion  52 , the limiter portion  53 , and the post-limiter portion  54 , and then, supplied to the TX modulation portion  21  of the RF portion  10  via the switch  59  and the interface portion  31 , is amplified by the power amplifier  20 , and transmitted by the antenna  15 . 
     On the other hand, the reception signal received by the antenna  15  is demodulated by the demodulator  11  for digital communication when the reception signal is digitaly modulated, further demodulated to provide a baseband signal by the IF demodulator  13  by mixing it with a local oscillation signal from the the frequency synthesizer  17 , and processed by the DSP portion  40  in the baseband portion  30 . 
     When the reception signal is of the analog communication, the reception signal received by the antenna  15  is demodulated by the FM demodulator  12  for the analog communication, and further demodulated to provide a baseband signal by the IF demodulator  13 , and supplied to the discriminator portion  60  of the baseband portion  30  where it is discriminated. The SAT processing portion  62  detects a supervisory signal included in the reception signal, judges it, and generates a transmission supervisory signal from the judging result. This transmission supervisory signal is transmitted to the transmission side by the RF portion  10  via the switch  59 . 
     The sound signal in the reception signal is subjected to the processings of the de-emphasis processing portion  61  and supplied to the speaker  82 . 
     The data transmitted from the base station through the control channel is subjected to processings of the manchester decode/bit synchronizing portion  63 , the B/I detection/seizing processing portion  64 , the majority vote judging portion  65 , and the BCH correction processing portion  66 , and supplied to the microprocessor  70 . 
     FIG. 2 is an illustration of this invention showing a data format of the control channel of the analog communication. 
     In the cases of analog communication protocols such as AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone Service), NAMPS/TACS (Total Access Communication System), NTACS, and JTACS, the base station transmits a message stream to the mobile unit communication apparatus through a forward control channel, the message stream including five-repeated transmission of ten bits of DOTTING, eleven bits of WORD SYNC, and the following forty bits of WORD A and forty bits of WORD B. 
     Moreover, one bit of Busy/Idle bit (B/I) as shown in FIG. 2 is inserted with a space, so that a total of the message steam is 463 bits. 
     A mobile unit communication apparatus extracts one of the data WORD A and the data WORD B from the (message) data stream transmitted through the forward control channel in accordance with the telephone number assigned thereto. 
     That is, if this mobile unit communication apparatus has an odd telephone number, the B/I detection/seizing processing portion  64  extracts the data of WORD A from the message stream transmitted through the control channel. If this mobile unit communication apparatus has an even telephone number, the B/I detection/seizing processing portion  64  extracts the data WORD B from the message data stream. 
     The manchester decode/bit synchronizing portion  63  of the baseband portion  30  reproduce a synchronizing signal (clock/data) from the signal subjected to the processing of the baseband processing. The word synchronization detection and processing portion  67  detects the data of WORD SYNC and supplies it to the B/I detection/seizing processing portion  64 . The B/I detection/seizing processing portion  64  detects the B/I bit Inserted in the message data stream and control a start and a stop of data reading from the timing of the detection of B/I bit, so that the data WORD A or the data WORD B can be read. The read data is supplied to the microprocessor  70  through the processings of the majority vote judging portion  65  and the BCH correction processing portion  66 . 
     As mentioned, the mobile unit communication apparatus according to the first embodiment effects the waiting operation and the communication operation for transmitting and receiving sound data with only the ASIC portion operated and the DSP portion not operated in the analog communication mode. Therefore, the high speed operation by the DSP portion  40  is unnecessary in the analog communication mode, so that the drive current which is supplied from the battery  92  can be reduced. 
     Moreover, in the waiting mode, the microprocessor  70  operates the clock signal generator  71  to reduce the frequency of the clock signal to the ASIC portion  50  to further reduce the power consumption in the mobile unit communication apparatus. FIG. 3 depicts a flow chart of the first embodiment showing an operation of the microprocessor  70 . 
     In step s 1 , the microprocessor  70  detects a waiting condition, that is, detects whether a call is arriving and whether it is the OFF-HOOK condition. If the waiting condition is detected in the analog communication mode, the microprocessor  70  operates the clock signal generator  71  to decrease the frequency of the clock signal supplied to the ASIC portion  50 . 
     A second embodiment will be described. 
     A mobile unit communication apparatus has substantially the same structure as that of the first embodiment. The difference is that the microprocessor  70  controls a supply power control circuit  93  to intermittently stop supplying the supply power SP 2  to the ASIC portion  50  in a predetermined condition in the waiting mode and further control the clock signal generator  71  to stop supplying the clock signal to the ASIC portion in that condition. 
     FIG. 4 depicts a flow chart of the second embodiment showing an operation of the microprocessor  70 . 
     If the mobile unit communication apparatus reads data of WORD A from a data stream of the forward control channel, the majority vote judging portion  65  compares the successive data of WORD A No.  1  with the data of WORD A No.  2 . In step S 11 , the microprocessor  70  receives the comparing result of data in Word A No.  1  with data in Word A No.  2  from the majority vote judging portion  65 . Because the woard A is repeatedly transmitted in the control channel five times every message data stream in the control channel, if data of respective words A agree with each other, the electric field for reception can be judged to be sufficient. 
     In the following step s 12 , if both data agree with each other in step s 2 , the microprocessor  70  stops supplying current for N msec from the next word, that is, at the top of the Word B No.  2  by controlling the supply power control circuit  93  and stopping supplying the clock signal by the clock signal generator  71 . If both data do not agree, processing returns to step s 11 . 
     FIG. 5 is an illustration of the second embodiment showing the operation of the intermittent stopping the supply power. 
     The interval of N msec depends on the system. That is, the supply power is supplied again before the timing of the next DOTTING portion at the top of the next message stream. Thus, the DOTTING portion is repeatedly transmitted, so that the supply power is intermittently supplied to the ASIC portion to save the power consumption. 
     If the mobile unit communication apparatus reads data of WORD B from the data stream of the forward control channel, the microprocessor  70  receives the comparing result of data in Word B No.  1  with data in Word B No.  2  from the majority vote judging portion  65  in step s 11 . If both data agree with each other, the microprocessor  70  stops supplying current for N msec from the next word, that is, Word A No.  3  by controlling the supply power control circuit  93  and stopping supplying the clock signal by the clock signal generator  71  as shown by a waveform  97  of the supply power SP 2 . The majority vote judging portion  65  may directly control the supply power control unit  93  with reference to a timer not shown. 
     In the analog communication system wherein a transmission interval for one message stream (463 bits) is 46.3 msec, if the data of WORD A is read out, the clock signal is stopped at the timing after 15.5 msec from the top of the message stream and at a timing of (30.8−N) msec, the clock signal is supplied to the ASIC portion  50  again. 
     In the analog communication system wherein a transmission interval for one message stream (463 bits) is 57.857 msec, if the data of WORD A is read out, the clock signal is stopped at the timing after 19.375 msec from the top of the message stream and at a timing of (38.5−N) msec, the clock signal is supplied to the ASIC portion  50  again. 
     In the analog communication system wherein a transmission interval for one message stream (463 bits) is 46.3 msec, if the data of WORD B is read out, the clock signal is stopped at the timing after 19.9 msec from the top of the message stream and at a timing of (26.4−N) msec, the clock signal is supplied to the ASIC portion  50  again. 
     In the analog communication system wherein a transmission interval for one message stream (463 bits) is 57.857 msec, if the data of WORD B is read out, the clock signal is stopped at the timing after 24.875 msec from the top of the message stream and at a timing of (33.0−N) msec, the clock signal is supplied to the ASIC portion  50  again. 
     Those operations are repeated, so that an intermittently stopping supplying the power to the ASIC portion  50 , the DSP portion  40 , and the RF portion  10  except to the microprocessor  70  measuring the interval by a timer  70   a  provided therein on the waiting mode reduces the power consumption.