Patent ID: 8005490

Claim:
An in-vehicle apparatus having a radio transmission restricting function and provided in a vehicle, the apparatus comprising: a phoning control unit controlling operation of a phoning device to send a radio wave of a predetermined frequency to a base station; and a vicinity searching control unit performing a search to determine whether or not a portable terminal, which requires a restriction on radio transmission, exists in a vicinity, wherein the phoning control unit performs a restriction on radio transmission from the phoning device when it is determined that the portable terminal requiring the restriction exists in the vicinity; the vicinity searching control unit includes a short range wireless communication device performing a short range wireless communication with a portable terminal, the short range wireless communication device searches for a portable terminal transmitting specific information indicative of a device, which is permitted to require a restriction on radio transmission, to thereby perform the search to determine whether a portable terminal requiring a restriction on radio transmission exists in a vicinity; and the short range wireless communication device transmits to the phoning device a transmission sound, which is to be transmitted to the base station from the phoning device while receiving from the phoning device a reception sound, which is received by the phoning device from the base station, when the phoning control unit is removing the restriction on radio transmission from the phoning device.