Abstract:
A portable radio apparatus may operate in a battery saving mode on any one of a plurality of channels, in order to communicate with a central office. The apparatus selects a channel for its use on a basis of the strength of the electrical fields on the various channels. During an initial period the apparatus scans continuously for a channel. If no channel is found during the initial period, the apparatus switches to an intermittent scan, with power down between the intermittent scan, thus providing the battery saving mode.

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. 
     A vehicle telephone system, for example, has control channels and audio channels, and a mobile subscriber receiver is tuned to any of the control channels which is in a waiting condition. While an electric field is not developed on the control channel to which the receiver is tuned, the receiver repeatedly performs channel scanning 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 assignee of this invention and which was laid open on May 16, 1986. 
     Specifically, the above-mentioned receiver is constructed so that a serially received data stream is converted into parallel data by a serial-to-parallel converter only when parallel outputs of the converter are received, a microprocessor is operated intermittently. Such an intermittent operation of the microprocessor is successful in reducing the power which is consumed by the entire receiver. This prior art receiver, however, suffers from a drawback because battery saving is not guaranteed while received data is absent under a no-field condition, although battery savings are 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 thus, causing a receiving section thereof to continuously consume power. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a portable radio apparatus which successfully implements a battery saving function during channel scanning. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide a portable radio apparatus with a battery saving function which only rarely causes data reception to fail while the channel scanning is under way. 
     It is a further object of the present invention to provide a portable radio apparatus which allows a call to be originated at any desired time, even during battery saved channel scanning operation. 
     A portable radio apparatus of the present invention includes a receiving section which is selectively tuned to a plurality of channels. A switch circuit control the supply of power to the receiving section. A detecting circuit is responsive to the strength of electric fields which may be developed on the respective channels. A and a control section controls the channel scanning which is performed by the receiving section, as well as the opening and closing of the switch circuit. The control section controls the switch circuit so as to feed power to continuously the receiving section during channel scanning. When channel scanning has continued for more than a predetermined period of time, the control section starts on a battery saving scanning in which the channel scanning occurs intermittently. During such a saving scanning, power is fed to the receiving section on a basis which is timed to the saving scanning. The saving scanning successfully implements battery saving in the event of channel scanning. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description taken with 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 the usual form of channel scanning to a battery saving channel scanning (hereinafter referred to as &#34;saving scanning&#34; 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 which in turn, is 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 with 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 this 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 receive and transmit frequency synthesizers 32 and 42, respectively. In response, the synthesizers 32 and 42 apply signals to, respectively, the receiver 31 and transmitter 41. Each of these signals has an oscillation frequency which is associated with the channel designating signal. The CPU 5 also receives a call originating signal, a dial signal and other signals from a keyboard 8. 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. The CPU 5 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 controlled to interrupt the power supply while in a waiting condition and to establish the supply during the transmission of control data and during communication. In the case of a voice-operated transmitter (VOX), the circuit 10 may be controlled so 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. 
     The present invention is deeply concerned with 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 RX section 3. In the battery saving mode, power is supplied for a period of time which allows all of the control channels to be scanned by one cycle. 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 &#34;saving scanning&#34; in this specification. 
     As soon as any data is detected on any of the control channels during a saving scanning, power is continuously applied to the RX section 3 to allow the latter to receive the data. On the other hand, when data which may follow is keyed in on the keyboard 8, the supply of power of the RX section 3 begins at that instant. 
     FIG. 2 shows a channel scanning routine of the apparatus. 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, either a status A or a status B is written as a system status in a read only memory (ID-ROM) which stores an identification (ID) number assigned to its own station. 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 because they are always selected first. 
     In FIG. 2, if the status is A as decided in step S1, the control channels #23 to #43 are scanned as stated above 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. 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 in that data. If data 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 be sure that all of 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. After all of the forty two control channels are scanned once the channel scanning routine is 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 when a certain control channel changes from a data present state to a data absent, or to a no-data state at the time t0, the channel scanning operation previously described 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, that is necessary for scanning one channel is about 40 milliseconds. There fore, about 1.7 seconds are needed to complete one round of the scan of the forty-two. control channels. When no 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 continuing onward. 
     What occurs during the saving scanning is shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B. As shown, at a time t6, the power supply to the RX section 3 begins while, at the same time, channel scanning begins. When no data is found on any of the control channels #23 to #43 and #323 to #343 by during one checking cycle, the power supply is interrupted at a time t7 so as to start a battery saving mode of operation. In the saving mode, the power supply and the channel scanning are each interrupted 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 that is performed during the interval between the times t6 and t7 is repeated. 
     FIGS. 6A and 6B are representative of an exemplary condition wherein data is found on the control channel #30 for example 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 #30 is seized 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. The words &#34;key input&#34; mentioned above applies to any of the keys which are provided on the keyboard 8, FIG. 1, and which may be operated as desired. This is because, whatever the operated key may be, it is apparent that the subscriber intends 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 the usual channel scanning is resumed. 
     FIG. 8 shows a specific construction of the receive frequency synthesizer 32 and 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. The other input terminal of comparator 83 receives an output of a programmable counter 89. Comparing the phase of the two input signals, 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 making a 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 converted into parallel signals. The parallel signals are 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 to 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 92. The output of multiplier 92 is routed to the receiver 31, FIG. 1, by way of 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 with a result 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 a double superheterodyne type which, per se, is well known in the art 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, 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 other circuits, 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. An analog-to-digital (A/D) converter 62 converts the levels of the detected envelope 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 54, 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 provides a vehicle-mounted telephone which is usable over a long time period 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 is thus suppressed. Another advantage which is 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 is 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.