Patent ID: 7606553

Claim:
An information processing apparatus including an antenna switching function, comprising: a plurality of antennas; a plurality of communication units each capable of carrying out a radio communication; a switching unit capable of switching connection states between said plurality of antennas and said plurality of communication units; a switching control unit for controlling said switching unit to switch said connection states; an inputting unit manipulated by an operator for inputting switching instruction information for switching said connection states through said switching unit, wherein said switching control unit controls said switching unit, in accordance with said switching instruction information inputted from said inputting unit, to switch said connection states; and reception state providing means for providing, when said switching unit is to switch the connection states, an electric-wave reception state on said communication unit in use to the operator so that information as to whether the switching of the connection states by said switching unit causes a problem is provided to the operator, and when radio communications are simultaneously made through a use of said plurality of communication units, said switching unit making connections between said plurality of communication units and said plurality of antennas and, when radio communications are made through a use of a portion of said plurality of communication units, said switching unit making connections between the antennas, a number of which depends on communication modes of said communication units made to carry out the radio communications, and said communication units, wherein, when the radio communications are simultaneously made through the use of said plurality of communication units, said switching control unit controls said switching unit to make connections between said plurality of communication units and said plurality of antennas and, when the radio communications are made through the use of the portion of said plurality of communication units, said switching control unit controls said switching unit to make connections between said antennas, the number of which depends on the communication modes of said communication units made to carry out the radio communications, and said communication units.