Portable radio apparatus having battery saving channel scanning function

Abstract: A portable radio apparatus includes a receiving section capable of being tuned to one of a plurality of channels, a switch circuit for controlling the supply of power from a battery to the receiving section, a detector circuit for detecting the strength of an electric field which is developed on a channel, and a control section connected to the receiving section and the switch circuit whereby, in response to an output from the detector circuit, the control section scans the channels for tuning the receiving section sequentially to the channels while, at the same time, controlling the switch circuit to feed power continuously to the receiving section and, in the absence of data on a channel within a first predetermined period of time during the channel scanning, executes a saving scan ning step for repeating a cycle in which the channels are sequentially scanned once prior to interrupting the scanning for a second predetermined period of time while controlling the switch circuit to feed power to the receiving section in synchronism with the saving scanning step.

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a portable radio apparatus for a vehicle telephone system or the like and, more particularly, to a portable radio apparatus having a channel scanning function. In a vehicle telephone system, for example, there are provided control channels and audio channels, and a mobile subscriber receiver is tuned to any of the control channels in a waiting condition. While an electric field is not developed on the control channel to which the receiver is tuned, the receiver performs channel scanning repeatedly until it finds a control channel with an electric field. A receiver with an implementation for saving power while data reception is under way with an electric field developed is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 98030/1986, or Patent Application No. 219231/1979, which is assigned to the applicant of the instant application and laid open May 16, 1986. Specifically, the above-mentioned receiver is constructed such that a serially received data stream is converted into parallel data by a serial-to-parallel converter and, only when parallel outputs of the converter are received, a microprocessor is operated intermittently. Such intermittent operation of the microprocessor is successful in reducing power which is consumed by the entire receiver. This prior art receiver, however, suffers from a drawback that battery saving is not guaranteed while received data is absent under a no-field condition, although it is achievable during data reception. More specifically, in a no-field condition, the receiver performs channels scanning continuously in order to acquire a channel on which an electric field is developed, causing a receiving section thereof to consume power without cease. In the specification of European patent application number 85109904.4 which was published under number 171071 on February 12 1986, there was proposed a radio communication system which employed a fixed unit, at which a first scanning operation was carried out during a channel scanning period in a waiting state, and a portable unit which was put intermittently into an active and an inactive state. The portable unit included a frequency synthesizer which carried out a second scanning operation to determine whether or not a channel was idle. The second scanning operation was carried out in the same or the reverse order to the first, or in a phase different from the first. Features of arrangements to be described below are that portable radio apparatus is provided which successfully implements a battery saving function during channel scanning which hardly causes data reception to fail while channel scanning is under way, and which allows a call to be originated at any desired time even during battery saved channel scanning. A particular portable radio apparatus to be described by way of example has a receiving section which is selectively tuned to a plurality of channels, a switch circuit for controlling the supply of power to the receiving section, a detecting circuit responsive to the strength of electric fields which may be developed on the respective channels, and a control section for controlling channel scanning performed by the receiving section as well as opening and closing of the switch circuit. The control sectioh so controls the switch circuit as to feed power to the receiving section continuously during channel scanning. When channel scanning has continued for more than a predetermined period of time, the control section starts on saving scanning in which the channel scanning occurs intermittently. During such saving scanning, power is fed to the receiving section timed to the saving scanning. The saving scanning successfully implements battery saving in the event of channel scanning. Embodiments illustrating the invention, by way of example will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing a portable radio apparatus embodying the present invention; Fig. 2 is a flowchart demonstrating a channel scanning routine as performed by the apparatus of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a chart schematically showing a channel arrangement which the apparatus of Fig. 1 uses; Figs. 4A and 4B are timing charts showing a transition from usual channel scanning to battery saved channel scanning (hereinafter referred to as saving scanning for simplicity) which occurs in the apparatus of Fig. 1; Figs. 5A and 5B are timing charts representative of a condition in which the apparatus of Fig. 1 is performing the saving scanning; Figs. 6A and 6B are timing charts showing a condition in which data is received while the apparatus of Fig. 1 is performing the saving scanning; Figs. 7A and 7B are timing charts showing a condition in which data is keyed in while the apparatus of Fig. 1 is effecting the saving scanning; Fig. 8 is a schematic block diagram showing a specific construction of a receive frequency synthesizer which is included in the apparatus of Fig. 1; Fig. 9 is a diagram showing a power switch circuit also included in the apparatus of Fig. 1; and Fig. 10 is a schematic block diagram of a receiver which is shown in Fig. 1 and includes a field strength detector. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to Fig. 1, a portable vehicle-mounted telephone to which the present invention is applied is shown and generally designated by reference numeral 100. The telephone 100 is representative of one subscriber telephone which is included in a vehicle telephone system and connected to an ordinary public telephone network via a central station, not shown. Specifically, the telephone 100 is capable of communicating with ordinary subscriber telephones and other vehicle-mounted telephones by way of the central station and public telephone network. A signal picked up by an antenna 1, e.g., a frequency modulated (FM) signal is fed via an antenna duplexer 2 to a receiver 31 which is included in a receiving (RX) section 3. Demodulating the received FM signal, the receiver 31 delivers an audio signal to a speaker 6 and a control signal and other data to a central processing unit (CPU) 5. On the other hand, an audio signal entered through a microphone 7 and data from the CPU 5 are applied to a transmitter 41 which is built in a transmitting (TX) section 4. The transmitter 41 subjects the incoming signal to, for example, frequency modulation and, then, applies the resulting signal to the antenna 1 via the antenna duplexer 2. This signal is sent from the antenna 1 to the central station. The CPU 5 controls the entire telephone 100. To tune the receiver 31 and transmitter 41 to a given channel, the CPU 5 delivers a channel designating signal to a receive and a transmit frequency synthesizer 32 and 42, respectively. In response, the synthesizers 32 and 42 apply to, respectively, the receiver 31 and transmitter 41 signals each having an oscillation frequency which is associated with the channel designating signal. The CPU 5 receives a call originating signal, a dial signal and others from a keyboard 8 as well. Further, the CPU 5 controls a RX power switch circuit 9 for controlling the supply of power from a battery 11 to the RX section 3, and it also controls a TX power switch circuit 10 for controlling the supply of power from the battery 11 to the TX section 4. The CPU 5 is constantly powered so long as a power switch 12 is closed. The TX power switch circuit 10 is so controlled as to interrupt the power supply in a waiting condition and to establish it during the transmission of control data and during communication. In the case of a voice-operated transmitter (VOX), the circuit 10 may be controlled such that power is fed only when an audio signal is present during communication. The RX power switch circuit 9 is controlled to perform a battery saving operation during channel scanning, and the present invention is deeply concerned with this control. More specifically, when a predetermined period of time such as 60 seconds expires before any data appears on any of the control channels during channel scanning, a battery saving mode is initiated in which power is intermittently supplied to the receiver 31. In the battery saving mode, power is supplied for a period of time which allows'all the control channels to be scanned by one cycle and, then, it is interrupted upon the lapse of a predetermined period of time such as 9 seconds. This manner of channel scanning is referred to as saving scanning in this specification. As soon as any data is detected on any of the control channels during saving scanning, power is continuously applied to the RX section 3 to allow the latter to receive the following data. On the other hand, when data is keyed in on the keyboard 8, the supply of power of the RX section 3 begins at that instant. Referring to Fig. 2, a channel scanning routine of the apparatus is shown. Upon the start of channel scanning (step S0), whether the system status is A or B is determined in step S1. The system status will be briefly described with reference to Fig. 3. This system has 1,000 channels in total, i.e., audio channels (V-CH) #1 to #22, #44 to #322 and #344 to #1,000 and control channels (C-CH) #23 to #43 and #323 to #343. In each receiver included in the system, a status A or a status B is written as a system status in a read only memory which stores an identification (ID) number assigned to the own station (ID-ROM). If it is the status A that is written in the ID-ROM, the receiver scans the control channels #23 to #43 first and, then, the control channels #323 to #343. If the status B is written in the ID-ROM, the receiver scans the control channels #323 to #343 and, then, the control channels #23 to #43. This is to prevent particular control channels from being overloaded. In Fig. 2, if the status is A as decided in step S1, the control channels #23 to #43 are scanned as stated above so as to store the numbers assigned to those channels which have the strongest and the second strongest field strength, respectively (steps S2A and S3A). Then, in step S4A, whether or not data is present on the channel having the strongest field strength is determined and, if it is present, the program advances to step S7 for taking in that data. If data is not present on that channel, step S5A is executed to see if data is present on the channel having the second strongest field strength. If data is present on that channel, the program advances to step S7 to take it in while, if it is absent, the operation is transferred to step S2B by way of step S6A. If the status is B as determined in step S1, the control channels #323 to #343 are sequentially scanned at step S2B so that those channels having the strongest and second strongest field strength are stored in step S3B. These steps S3B to S5B are exactly the same in operation as the previously mentioned steps S3A to S5A. If no data is found on the channel having the second strongest field strength as decided in step S5B, the program returns to step S2A through step S6B. Each of the steps S6A and S6B is adapted to see if all the forty two control channels have been scanned. If they have not been fully scanned, steps S6A and S6B are followed by, respectively, steps S2B and S2A to scan all of them. As all the forty two control channels are scanned, the channel scanning routine is once terminated. However, even after the termination of the channel scanning routine, the program returns to the start (step S0) while channel scanning is executed in the ordinary mode which is distinguished from the saving scan mode, as described in detail later. A reference will be made to Figs. 4A, 4B, 5A, 5B, 6A, 6B, 7A and 7B for explaining the saving scanning which is the characteristic operation in accordance with the present invention. When the apparatus is powered at a time t0 or a certain control channel is turned from a data present state to a data absent, or no-data state at the time t0, the channel scanning operation previously stated with reference to Fig. 2 is initiated. Since the system status of the radio apparatus is assumed to be A, the apparatus scans the control channels #23 to #43 from the time t0 to a time t1 and, then, the control channels #323 to #343 from the time t1 to a time t2. This scanning procedure is repeated thereafter. The period of time necessary for scanning one channel is about 40 milliseconds and, therefore, about 1.7 seconds are needed to scan the forty two control channels by one round. When any data is not found on any of the channels upon the lapse of a predetermined period of time, e.g., 60 seconds after the channel scanning has been started at the time t0, the saving scanning is initiated. The supply of power to the RX section 3, Fig. 1, is interrupted at a time t5 and onward. What occurs during the saving scanning is shown in Figs. 5A and 5B. As shown, at a time t6, power supply to the RX section 3 begins while, at the same time, channel scanning begins. When any data is not found on any of the control channels #23 to #43 and #323 to #343 by one checking cycle, the power supply is interrupted at a time t7 so as to start a saving mode. In the saving mode, the power supply and the channel scanning are each stopped for a predetermined period of time such as 9 seconds. Then, at a time t8, the saving mode is replaced with the channel scanning mode again. During the interval between times t8 and t9, the same operation as that performed during the interval between the times t6 and t7 is performed. Figs. 6A and 6B are representative of an exemplary condition wherein data is found on the control channel #30 during the saving scanning. In Fig. 6B, the saving scanning operation shown in Figs. 5A to 5B is performed from a time t10 to a time t12. When data is detected on the control channel #30 while the control channels #23 to #43 are sequentially scanned during the interval between times t12 and t13, the saving scanning is interrupted at the time t13 while, at the same time, the channel is fixed to #30 so as to start taking in the data. Figs. 7A and 7B show another exemplary condition in which data is keyed in while the saving scanning is under way. During the interval between times t14 and t15, channel scanning is performed. Assuming that a key input occurs at a time t16 while the power supply is interrupted, the saving scanning is immediately stopped and replaced with an ordinary continuous scanning mode. It is to be noted that the words "key input" mentioned above applies to any of the keys which are provided on the keyboard 8, Fig. 1, and may be operated as desired. This is because, whatever the key operated may be, it is decided that the subscriber has intended to take some action such as origination of a call. Further, a key input is validated at any time during the saving scanning so that usual channel scanning is resumed. Referring to Fig. 8, a specific construction of the receive frequency synthesizer 32 is shown and includes a reference oscillator 81. The reference oscillator 81 generates a reference oscillation signal while a reference divider 82 divides the reference oscillation signal by a predetermined number. The output of the reference divider 82 is fed to one input terminal of a phase comparator 83 to the other input terminal of which an output of a programmable counter 89 is applied. Comparing the two input signals with respect to phase, the phase comparator 83 produces a phase error signal and delivers it to a charge pump 84. In response, the charge pump 84 drives a loop filter 85 by supplying it with a current which is associated with the phase error signal. The low-pass output of the filter 85 is fed to a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) 86 as an oscillation control signal. The output of VCO 86 is coupled, through a buffer amplifier 87, to a variable prescaler 88 which is adapted for predetermined division. The output of the prescaler 88 is further divided by the programmable counter 89 and, then, routed to the phase comparator 83. The division ratio of the prescaler 88 has two different stages which are selectively set up by a control counter 90. A channel designating signal is fed from the CPU 5, Fig. 1, to a serial-to-parallel converter 91 to be thereby converted into parallel signals, the parallel signals being applied to the counters 89 and 90. Each of the counters 89 and 90, therefore, is loaded with a particular division ratio which is associated with the channel designating signal. Since the elements 81 to 91 constitute in combination a programmable phase locked loop (PLL), a signal whose frequency is associated with the channel designating signal which is applied the serial-to-parallel converter 91 appears on the output of VCO 86. The output of VCO 86 is also applied to a frequency multiplier 91. The output of multiplier 92 is routed to the receiver 31, Fig. 1, through a buffer amplifier 93 and a band-pass filter 94. The supply of power to the reference oscillator 81, charge pump 84, VCO 86, buffer amplifier 87, prescaler 88, multiplier 92 and buffer amplifier 93 is controlled by the RX power switch circuit 9, Fig. 1. It is to be noted that a block demarcated by a dashed line in Fig. 8 and designated by the reference numeral 95 is implemented with a one-chip complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS). Referring to Fig. 9, a specific construction of the RX power switch circuit 9 is shown. As shown, a PNP transistor 91 has an emitter E and a collector C which are connected to the power switch 12 and the RX section 3, respectively. The base B of transistor 91 is connected to the CPU 5 via a resistor 93 and to the emitter E via a resistor 92. When the CPU 5 delivers a low level signal, the transistor 91 is rendered conductive resulting that power is fed to the RX section 3. Conversely, when the CPU 5 delivers a high level signal, the transistor 91 is turned off to interrupt the supply of power to the RX section 3. Fig. 10 is a block diagram showing the receiver 31 which includes a field strength detector 60. The receiver is of a double superheterodyne type which per se is well known in the art and, therefore, it will be briefly described hereinafter. A received signal coming in through the antenna duplexer 2 is applied to a first mixer 51 to be mixed down into a first intermediate frequency (IF) signal. A local oscillation signal is fed to the mixer 51 from the receive frequency synthesizer 32, Fig. 1. The first IF signal is propagated through a first IF band-pass filter 52 to a second mixer 53 which then mixes the input IF signal with a local oscillation signal fed from a local oscillator 54 so as to mix it down into a second IF signal. This second IF signal is passed through a second IF band-pass filter 55, then amplified by an IF amplifier 56, and then limited in amplitude by a limiter 57. The output of limiter 57 is routed to a frequency discriminator 58 on one hand and to the field strength detector 60 on the other hand. The frequency discriminator 58 demodulates the second IF signal to produce an audio frequency (AF) signal which is applied to an AF circuit 59. The AF circuit 59 includes an AF amplifier, a low pass filter (LPF) and others and delivers its output to the speaker 6 and CPU 5. The field strength detector 60 includes an envelope detector 61 which is adapted to detect the envelope of the outputs of the limiter 51 by detecting those outputs. An analog-to-digital (A/D) converter 62 converts the levels of the envelope detected and feeds the resulting digital signal to the CPU 5. The supply of power to the first and second mixers 51 and 53, local oscillator 59, IF amplifier 56, limiter 57, frequency discriminator 58, AF circuit 59 and field strength detector 60 is controlled by the RX power switch circuit 9. In summary, it will be seen that the present invention realizes a vehicle-mounted telephone which is usable over a long time with a minimum of current consumption. This is because channel scanning is effected intermittently to search for a channel with an electric field even when the telephone is left in poor electric field environments, the power consumption thus being suppressed. Another advantage attainable with the present invention is that, since the intermittent channel scanning operation is interrupted for a predetermined period of time after the reception of data, there occurs no delay in response due to the intermittent operation even in those environments which suffer from sharp changes in electric field. Further, the delay in response to an operator due to the intermittent operation is eliminated because, after any data has been keyed in, the intermittent operation is not performed until a predetermined period of time expires.

Claims: A portable radio apparatus including a receiving section (3) capable of being tuned to any of a plurality of audio and control channels, a switch circuit (9) for controlling the supply of power from a battery (11) to the receiving section (3), a detector circuit (60) for detecting the strength of an electric field which is developed on a control channel, and a control section (5) connected to the receiving section (6) and the switch circuit (9) whereby, in response to an output from the detector circuit, the control section (5) scans the control channels for tuning the receiving section (6) sequentially to the control channels while, at the same time, controlling the switch circuit to feed power continuously to the receiving section and, in the absence of data on a control channel within a first predetermined period of time during the channel scanning, executes a saving scanning step for repeating a cycle in which the control channels are sequentially scanned once prior to interrupting the scanning for a second predetermined period of time while controlling the switch circuit (9) to feed power to the receiving section (6) in synchronism with the saving scanning step, characterised in that the control means (5) coupled to the switch circuit (9) includes means for switching off the power from the battery (11) to the receiving section (3) during the second period of time, the channel scanning being cyclically and continuously performed during the first period. A portable radio apparatus as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the control section (5) is further provided with means operative responsive to the receipt of data on any of the control channels while the intermittent scanning operation is under way, the control section (5) tuning the receiving section (6) to seize the particular control channel while controlling the switch circuit to continuously feed power to the receiving section. A portable radio apparatus as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that it includes a keyboard (8) connected to the control section (5) for generating a key signal responsive to an operation of the keyboard (8), the control section (5) operating responsive to the key signal during the intermittent scanning operation for controlling the switch circuit to stop the intermittent scanning operation while continuously feeding power to the receiving section (3). A portable radio apparatus as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that under the control of the control section (5) one round of the channel scanning includes the steps of scanning all of the control channels, storing an identification of a first and a second control channel having, respectively, the strongest and the second strongest electric field, determining whether or not the data is present on either of the first and second control channels, and taking in the data if it is present on any of the first and second control channels. A portable radio apparatus as claimed in claim 2, characterised in that the plurality of channels includes a first and a second control channel group associated with a first and a second communication system, respectiviely, and in which under the control of the control section (5) one round of the channel scanning includes the steps, when the apparatus is set to a first status, of scanning the first control channel group, storing information of a first control channel of the first control channel group having the strongest electric field in that first control channel group, determining whether or not data is present on the first control channel, taking in any data present on the first channel, scanning the second control channel group if no data is present on the first control channel, storing information from a second control channel of the second control channel group having the strongest electric field in that second control channel group, determining whether or not data is present on the second control channel, taking in any data present on the second control channel, and terminating the one round of the channel scanning if no data is present on the second control channel. A portable radio apparatus as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the detector circuit (60) includes an envelope detector for detecting an envelope of a signal which is outputted by an intermediate frequency (IF) stage of the receiving section, and an analog-to-digital (A/D) converter for converting the output of the envelope detector to a digital signal. A portable radio apparatus as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the switch circuit (9) includes a PNP transistor (91) having an emitter and a collector which are connected respectively to the battery (11) and the receiving section (3), a base of the transistor being connected to the control section (5). A portable radio apparatus as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the receiving section (3) includes a frequency converter (51) for converting a received signal into an intermediate frequency (IF) signal in response to a local oscillation signal, a demodulator (58) responsive to the frequency converter (51) for demodulating the IF signal into an audio frequency (AF) signal, means in the control section (5) for producing a channel designation signal, a frequency synthesizer (32) responsive to the channel designation signal from the control section (5) for changing an output frequency and for delivering an output to the frequency convertor as the local oscillation signal; and in that the field strength detector circuit (60) includes a detector (61) for detecting an envelope of the IF signal, and an A/D converter (62) for converting the output of the detector (61) into a digital signal. A portable radio apparatus having an intermittent scanning function, including a radio section (3) capable of being tuned to any of a plurality of audio and control channels, a power switch (9) for establishing and interrupting a supply of power to the radio section (3), control means (5) effective while the apparatus is in a waiting condition for controlling the radio section (3) to sequentially scan control channels to measure reception levels corresponding to the electric field strength on the respective control channels, characterised in that the control means tunes the radio section (3) to the one of the control channels which has the highest reception level and, if that one channel does not respond, to another of the control channels which has the second highest reception level, the control means (5) repeating the channel scanning when no data is received, and in that the control means (5) includes means for controlling the power switch (9) to interrupt the supply of power to corresponding portions of the apparatus, except for at least a timer section when data is not received for a predetermined period of time, the channel scanning being resumed by feeding power to the portions, which have been disconnected from the radio section, at predetermined time intervals after the interruption of the power supply, and means for interrupting the intermittent scanning and executing the channel scanning when a predetermined condition is reached. A portable radio apparatus as claimed in claim 9, characterised in that the predetermined condition is the reception of data or the entry of a key input on an operating section of the radio apparatus. A method of scanning the channels of a portable radio apparatus as claimed in claim 1, including the steps of tuning a receiving section (3) to a plurality of audio and control channels to detect the electric field strength of respective control channels, characterised in that it includes the steps of selecting from among the plurality of control channels the control channel having the strongest electric field strength, deciding whether or not data is present on the selected control channel, continuing to cyclically and continuously tune the receiving section of the respective control channels when data is not present on the one control channel, intermittently tuning the receiving section to the respective control channels when the cyclic and continuous tuning operation has continued for more than a predetermined period of time while data is not present on any of said control channels, and feeding power to the receiving section (3) continuously during the continuous tuning operation and intermittently during the intermittent tuning operation. A method as claimed in claim 11, further including the steps of fixedly tuning the receiving section (3) to the selected control channel when data is present on any of the control channels during the intermittent tuning operation, and continuously feeding power to the receiving section (3) when the receiving section (3) is tuned to the selected control channel. A method as claimed in claim 11, further including the steps of manually generating a key signal, and when the key signal is produced during the intermittent tuning operation, resuming the continuous tuning operation and discontinuing the intermittent tuning operation. A portable radio apparatus which can seize and operate on one of a plurality of audio and control channels, the apparatus including a switchable power supply for selectively supplying or not supplying power to the apparatus, a first detector (60) for detecting the strength of electric fields on the control channels, channel scanning means for scanning the control channels to sequentially tune the apparatus to one of the control channels on the basis of the strength of the electric fields detected by the first detector means (60), a second detector (58) for detecting data on one of the control channels to which the apparatus is tuned, control means (5) for controlling the switchable (9) power supply to continuously supply power to the apparatus during an initial scanning period, characterised in that there is provided battery saving means responsive to lack of data detection by the second detector (58) during the initial scanning period for controlling the switchable (9) power supply to intermittently supply power to the apparatus during intermittent scanning periods. Apparatus as claimed in claim 14 including a central processor (5) for controlling the means for operating the switchable (9) power supply, the central processor being programmed to cause a first group of the radio apparatus to first scan a first group of the control channels and thereafter to scan a second group of the control channels if the first scan is not successful, and to cause a second group of the radio apparatus to first scan the second group of control channels and thereafter to scan the first group of control channels if the first scan is not successful, and to cause the battery saving means to switch from continuous to intermittent scanning.

Inventors: MARU TSUGUO, MARU, TSUGUO
Applicants: NIPPON ELECTRIC CO, NEC CORPORATION
Application year: 1988
Main classification: H04B1
IPC codes: H04B1, H04M1, H04W48, H04W52