HK1053400B - Mobile terminal device to controlling incoming call notifying method - Google Patents

Description

Mobile terminal device and method for controlling incoming call notification

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an incoming call method for a mobile terminal device such as a portable telephone or PHS.

Background

In mobile communication with a portable telephone, a user typically carries a mobile terminal in a power-on mode and can make or receive calls at any time. However, depending on where or where the user is located, there may be a situation where the ringing tone may disturb others nearby.

The most recent mobile terminal devices have a reception mode called non-ringing mode. Non-ringing mode this reception mode is used in situations where the ringing tone will disturb others, such as in a cinema or train, or during a meeting, and when a call is received, this mode does not produce a ringing tone. In many cases, the non-ringing mode informs the user of an incoming call by generating a ringing tone instead of a vibrator.

Some mobile terminal apparatuses generate a key operation confirmation tone when making a call and transmitting and receiving an electronic mail. However, if the non-ringing mode is set, such a key operation confirmation tone is not generated in most cases.

Typically, the non-ringing tone mode is set manually by the user by a key operation. However, in the case where the non-ringing mode should be set, the user may forget the setting or the user may forget to cancel the non-ringing mode. Thus, a ringing tone may be emitted in a quiet place, and an incoming call may not be notified to the user because no ringing tone is generated. To solve this problem, some methods for automatically setting and canceling the non-ringing mode have been invented.

One conventional method of automatically setting and canceling the non-ringing mode is to store a base station ID for setting and canceling the non-ringing mode in the mobile terminal device. According to the method, a mobile terminal device having stored base station IDs for setting and canceling automatically enters a non-ringing mode upon entering a base station area having an appropriate base station ID for which a user sets the non-ringing mode. Once the mobile terminal enters the base station area with the base station ID for cancelling the non-ringing mode, it will automatically enter the standard reception mode when it leaves the area.

Another method of automatically setting and canceling the non-ringing mode is to measure the ambient noise and automatically adjust the ringing tone volume or timbre (time) according to the measured value.

The method of automatically setting and canceling the non-ringing mode based on the base station ID can be set and canceled only on a base station-by-base station basis and is effective only for PHS whose area covered by one individual base station is small. In the PDC type portable telephone system in which the area covered by the base station is large, it is difficult to perform setting and cancellation of the non-ringing mode.

The method for automatically adjusting the volume of a ringing tone or the quality of a sound based on a measured value of ambient noise automatically sets and cancels a non-ringing mode according to the volume regardless of the ambient conditions. Therefore, it is possible to set the non-ringing mode when it is not actually needed, or not when it should be set.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention has been devised in view of the above problems. The present invention provides a mobile terminal device which automatically selects an appropriate ringing device which sufficiently reflects the surrounding situation.

A portable terminal device of the present invention includes a plurality of notification means for notifying a user of an incoming call, detection means for detecting ambient sound, separation means for separating the ambient sound into a first component in a speech band and a second component in a band other than the speech band, and control means for controlling the notification means on the basis of the first component and the second component. The mobile terminal device further comprises analysis means for determining that one of the two components is a dominant component based on a relationship between the volumes of the first and second components. The mobile terminal device further comprises selecting means for selecting at least one of the plurality of notifying means according to which of the first component and the second component is dominant and the dominant volume. The first component is a speech component and the second component is a non-speech component. The plurality of notification devices include a tone alerting device, a vibration device, and a light emitting device. The selection means selects the ringing means when the speech component is the predominant component and exceeds a first threshold, and selects the vibration means when the speech component is the predominant component and is less than or equal to the first threshold, and selects the vibration means and the tone ringing means when the non-speech component is the predominant component and exceeds a second threshold, and selects the tone ringing means when the non-speech component is the predominant component and is less than or equal to the second threshold. The selection means selects both the vibration means and the light means when the voice component is dominant and less than or equal to a first threshold value. The selection means may select the vibration means, the tone alerting means, and the light emitting means together when the voice component is the dominant component and exceeds a third threshold value larger than the first threshold value, and when the noise component is the dominant component and exceeds a fourth threshold value larger than the second threshold value. The analysis means determines which of the speech component and the non-speech component is the dominant component by obtaining the peak values of the volumes of the speech component and the non-speech component at least once and comparing the peak maximum value of the speech component with the maximum value of the peak value of the non-speech component. Alternatively, the analysis means may determine which of the speech component and the non-speech component is the dominant component by obtaining the volume peaks of the speech component and the non-speech component at least once and comparing the average of the peaks of the speech component with the average of the peaks of the non-speech component. Also, the analysis means may determine the frequency band of the non-voice component in advance, and determine which of the voice component and the non-voice component is the dominant component by obtaining the integral value of the volume of the voice component and the non-voice component at least once, and comparing the maximum value of the integral value of the voice component and the maximum value of the integral value of the non-voice component. Alternatively, the analysis means may determine the frequency band of the non-voice component in advance, and determine which of the voice component and the non-voice component is the dominant component by obtaining the integral values of the volumes of the voice component and the non-voice component at least once, and comparing the average value of the integral values of the voice component and the average value of the integral values of the non-voice component. The analysis means preferably determines which of the speech component and the non-speech component is the dominant component by using a correlation function. The analyzing means changes the volume of the tone ringing means in accordance with the volume of the dominant component. The analysis means changes the tone quality of the tone ringing device in accordance with the volume of the dominant component. The analysis means periodically updates which of the speech component and the non-speech component is the dominant component. When performing the location registration, the analysis means updates which of the speech component and the non-speech component is the dominant component.

The incoming call alerting method of the present invention for a mobile terminal device includes: detecting ambient sound; separating ambient sound into a first component in a speech band and a second component in a band outside the speech band; determining how to notify the user of an incoming call based on the first component and the second component; receiving an incoming call and notifying the user of the incoming call based on the determination of how to notify the user. The incoming call ringing method for a mobile terminal device further comprises: which of the two components is the dominant component is determined according to a relationship between the volumes of the first component and the second component, and the notifying step is controlled according to which of the first component and the second component is the dominant component and the volume of the dominant component. The first component is a speech component and the second component is a non-speech component. The notifying step is at least one of ringing, vibrating, and emitting light.

The portable terminal device of the present invention includes: the apparatus includes a plurality of notification sections for notifying a user of an incoming call, a detector for detecting ambient sound, a separator for separating the ambient sound into a first component in a speech band and a second component in a band outside the speech band, and a controller for controlling the notification apparatus based on the first component and the second component. The mobile terminal device further includes: an analyzer for determining which of the first and second components is a dominant component based on a relationship between the volumes of the two components; and a selector that selects at least one of the plurality of notification sections according to which of the first component and the second component is a dominant component. The first component is a speech component and the second component is a non-speech component. The plurality of notification sections include a tone ringing section, a vibrator, and a light emitting section. The selector selects the vibrator when the speech component is the predominant component and exceeds a first threshold, selects the vibrator when the speech component is the predominant component and is less than or equal to the first threshold, selects the vibrator and the tone alerting portion when the non-speech component is the predominant component and exceeds a second threshold, and selects the tone alerting portion when the non-speech component is the predominant component and is less than or equal to the second threshold. When the voice component is the dominant component and is less than or equal to the first threshold value, the selector selects the vibrator together with the light emitting section. The selector may select the vibrator, the tone alerting section, and the light emitting section together when the voice component is the dominant component and exceeds a third threshold value larger than the first threshold value, and when the noise component is the dominant component and exceeds a fourth threshold value larger than the second threshold value. The analyzer determines which of the speech component and the non-speech component is the dominant component by obtaining the peak values of the volumes of the speech component and the non-speech component at least once and comparing the peak maximum value of the speech component with the peak maximum value of the non-speech component. By obtaining the volume peaks of the voice component and the non-voice component at least once and comparing the average of the peaks of the voice component with the average of the peaks of the non-voice component, the analysis means can determine which of the voice component and the non-voice component is dominant. Also, the analysis means may determine the frequency band of the non-voice component in advance, and determine which of the voice component and the non-voice component is the dominant component by obtaining the integral value of the volume of the voice component and the non-voice component at least once, and comparing the maximum value of the integral value of the voice component and the maximum value of the integral value of the non-voice component. Alternatively, the analysis means may determine the frequency band of the non-voice component in advance, and determine which of the voice component and the non-voice component is the dominant component by obtaining the integral values of the volumes of the voice component and the non-voice component at least once, and comparing the average value of the integral values of the voice component and the average value of the integral values of the non-voice component. The analysis means preferably determines which of the speech component and the non-speech component is the dominant component by using a correlation function. Further, the analyzer changes the volume of the ringing part in accordance with the volume of the dominant component. Also, the analyzer changes the tone quality of the tone alerting device according to the volume of the dominant component. The analyzer periodically updates which of the speech component and the non-speech component is the dominant component. When performing location registration, the analyzer updates which of the speech component and the non-speech component is the dominant component.

A mobile terminal device includes: the apparatus includes a plurality of notification sections for notifying a user of an incoming call, a detector for detecting ambient sound, a signal processor for separating the ambient sound into a first component in a speech band and a second component in a band outside the speech band, and a controller for controlling the notification sections based on the first component and the second component. The signal processor determines which of the two components is a dominant component according to a relationship between the volumes of the first and second components, and the controller selects at least one of the plurality of notification sections according to which of the first and second components is the dominant component and the volume of the dominant component. The plurality of notification sections include a tone ringing section, a vibrator, and a light emitting section. The controller selects the vibrator when the voice component is a dominant component and exceeds a first threshold; the controller selects the vibrator when the voice component is a dominant component and is less than or equal to a first threshold value; the controller selects the vibrator and the tone alerting section when the non-voice component is the dominant component and exceeds a second threshold; and the controller selects a tone alerting section when the non-voice component is the dominant component and is less than or equal to a second threshold value. When the voice component is the dominant component and is less than or equal to the first threshold value, the controller selects the vibrator together with the light emitting section. Alternatively, the controller selects the vibrator, the tone ringing section, and the light emitting section when the voice component is the dominant component and exceeds a third threshold value larger than the first threshold value, and when the noise component is the dominant component and exceeds a fourth threshold value larger than the second threshold value. The signal processor determines which of the speech component and the non-speech component is the dominant component by obtaining peaks of volumes of the speech component and the non-speech component at least once and comparing a peak maximum value of the speech component with a peak maximum value of the non-speech component. Alternatively, the signal processor may determine which of the speech component and the non-speech component is the dominant component by obtaining volume peaks of the speech component and the non-speech component at least once and comparing an average of the peaks of the speech component with an average of the peaks of the non-speech component. Alternatively, the signal processor may also determine the frequency band of the non-voice component in advance, and determine which of the voice component and the non-voice component is dominant by obtaining the integral values of the volumes of the voice component and the non-voice component at least once, and comparing the maximum value of the integral values of the voice component and the maximum value of the integral values of the non-voice component. In an alternative embodiment, the signal processor may determine a frequency band of the non-voice component in advance, and determine which of the voice component and the non-voice component is the dominant component by obtaining integral values of volumes of the voice component and the non-voice component at least once, and comparing the average value of the integral values of the voice component and the average value of the integral values of the non-voice component. The signal processor determines which of the speech component and the non-speech component is the dominant component by using a correlation function, and the signal processor changes the volume of a ringing portion of the tone according to the volume of the dominant component. Also, the signal processor changes the tone quality of the ringing portion in accordance with the volume of the dominant component. The signal processor periodically updates which of the speech component and the non-speech component is the dominant component. Finally, the signal processor updates which of the speech component and the non-speech component is the dominant component when performing the location registration.

According to the present invention, since the ambient sound is separated into a speech component and a non-speech component, a dominant component is determined by comparing them, and an optimal incoming call alerting device is selected according to the dominant component and the volume thereof, it is possible to estimate the ambient condition in consideration of the human voice distinguished from the noise, and to select an incoming call alerting device that sufficiently reflects the ambient condition. Thus, the user does not disturb others or miss an incoming call by forgetting that the non-ringing mode has been set.

Further, when the voice component is the dominant component and the volume thereof is high in the lecture occasion, vibration is selected; also when in the conference the speech component is the dominant component and its volume is not as high as in the lecture situation, vibration is selected; selecting a vibration and a ringing tone when a non-voice component is a dominant component and its volume is high in a noisy occasion; and selects a ringing tone when a non-voice component is a dominant component and its volume is low in a daily life environment. Therefore, it is possible to separately use the ringing tone and the vibration sufficiently according to the surrounding situation.

Therefore, when the surrounding sound is so large that the user cannot hear the ringing tone, the incoming call will be notified using all the incoming call alerting devices, so that the user can know an incoming call even at a location of severe noise.

Further, the maximum values of the peaks of the voice component and the non-voice component are compared with each other so that the change in the sound volumes of the voice component and the non-voice component does not cause a change in the selection, and the surrounding situation can be sufficiently reflected on the selection of the incoming call alerting device.

Alternatively, the averages of the peaks of the voice component and the non-voice component are compared with each other so that a change in the volumes of the voice component and the non-voice component does not cause a change in the selection, and the surrounding situation can be sufficiently reflected on the selection of the incoming call alerting device.

Alternatively, the maximum values of the integrated values of the volumes of the voice component and the non-voice component are compared with each other so that a change in the volumes of the voice component and the non-voice component does not cause a change in the selection, and the surrounding situation can be sufficiently reflected on the selection of the incoming call alerting device.

Since the speech component can be sufficiently compared with the non-speech component by adjustment using a coefficient, it is possible to select an appropriate incoming call alerting device.

It is possible to analyze which of the speech component and the non-speech component is the dominant component by using a correlation function, so that the surrounding situation can be sufficiently reflected on the selection of the incoming call alerting device.

It is possible to notify the user of an incoming call by a low volume ring tone alert in relatively quiet situations to reduce the excitement to the user himself or others around, and it is possible to notify the user of an incoming call by a high volume ring tone alert in relatively noisy situations.

Since which of the speech component and the non-speech component is the dominant component is periodically updated, an optimum ringer can be selected that reflects changes in the surrounding situation.

Since which of the speech component and the non-speech component is the dominant component is updated at the time of location registration, which may be changed in the surrounding situation, it is possible to quickly reflect the change in the surrounding situation.

Drawings

These and other aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the construction of a mobile terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a block diagram showing the structure of the ringing tone generating section 11;

fig. 3 is a table showing conditions set for selecting an incoming call alerting device according to the analysis result of the analyzing section 6;

fig. 4 shows an example of the relationship between the volume of the noise component and the volume of the ringing tone;

fig. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the mobile terminal apparatus in determining an incoming call device;

FIG. 6 is a table showing other setting conditions according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 7 shows another example of the relationship between the volume of the noise component and the volume of the ringing tone;

fig. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a mobile terminal apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 9 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a mobile terminal apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention; and is

Fig. 10 is a block diagram showing the structure of ringing section 41.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention are described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In most cases, a user always carries a mobile terminal device, and in various surrounding situations, the user finds the device. These ambient conditions include, for example: a situation where the human voice is relatively loud but other noise is rare (e.g., a lecture situation), a situation where the human voice is not loud (e.g., a meeting), a situation where there is a human voice but both voice and noise are loud (e.g., in a library), a situation where there is a street where there is a car engine sound, a situation where there is a lot of noise (e.g., in a train), a situation where there is some noise but there is no high noise level, and a situation where the noise is so loud that the user cannot hear the ringing tone.

In situations where the noise is loud but it is undesirable to produce a ringing tone, this is typically the case where the use of a portable telephone is required to be prohibited by broadcasting in a train. Therefore, if one intends to set the non-ringing mode, it is less likely to forget to set it. In contrast, in a quiet environment or an environment with less noise than human voice, the use of a portable phone is prohibited or a ringing tone is disabled by a sign request, and the user may not be aware of the sign and forget to set a non-ringing mode.

The present invention predicts the ambient conditions and selects the optimal incoming call ringing method taking into account the level relationship of the human voice volume to the other voice volumes and the ambient environment volume.

An embodiment of the present invention is described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the construction of a mobile terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to fig. 1, a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a ringing tone generating part 11, a vibrator 12, a light emitting part 13, a microphone 14, a filter part 15, an analyzing part 16, and a decision part 17.

The ringing tone generating section 11 generates a ringing tone when a call is received. The user may choose whether to generate a ringing tone. The user may also set the volume of the ringing tone in advance. Vibrator 12 is vibrated to notify the user of an incoming call. The light emitting section 13 notifies the user of an incoming call by emitting light. The light emitting part 13 notifies an incoming call by lighting or flashing, for example, an LED or by backlighting of a button provided on the mobile terminal device, or by displaying a change in color on a display screen. The microphone 14 detects ambient sounds and converts them into electrical signals.

The filter section 15 separates the signal of the ambient sound received by the microphone 14 into a human voice frequency component and other sound (hereinafter referred to as noise) frequency components. Hereinafter, the human voice frequency component is referred to as a voice component, and the noise frequency component is referred to as a noise component. Here, the component having the vocal band of 0.3 to 3.4kHz is a voice component, and the components of the other bands are noise components. The analysis section 16 analyzes the surrounding situation by comparing the voice component volume and the noise component volume obtained by the filter section 15 by a predetermined method. For example, the surrounding situation is determined by which of the speech component and the noise component is the dominant component and whether the dominant component exceeds a predetermined threshold. The decision section 17 selects one of the incoming call ringing devices according to the analysis result of the analysis section 16, and controls the ringing tone generation section 11, the vibrator 12, and the light emitting section 13.

The structure of the ringing tone generating section 11 is described below.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the ringing tone generating section 11. Referring to fig. 2, the ringing tone generating section 11 has a ringing tone signal generating section 21, an amplifier 22 and a speaker 23.

The ringing tone signal generating section 21 generates a signal such as a ringing tone or melody of an incoming call for an incoming call in response to the instruction from the decision section 17. The amplifier 22 amplifies the ringing tone signal by an amplification rate indicated by the decision section 17. The speaker 23 generates a ringing tone by an incoming call signal generated by the ringing tone signal generating section 21 and amplified by the amplifier 22.

The conditions for selecting the incoming call alerting device in the analyzing section 16 and the determining section 17 are described below.

Fig. 3 is a diagram showing conditions set for selecting an incoming call alerting device according to the analysis result of the analyzing section 16. The analysis section 16 analyzes to which of fig. 3 the surrounding situation corresponds. In fig. 3, if the dominant component is loud, the speech component or noise component as the dominant component exceeds a threshold of speech or noise. Also, if the volume of the dominant component is low, it means that the speech component or the noise component as the dominant component is equal to or less than the speech threshold or the noise threshold.

Referring to fig. 3, when the speech component is the dominant component and the dominant speech component exceeds a predetermined speech threshold, the decision section 17 selects a call notification using vibration. When the speech component is the dominant component and the dominant due component is equal to or smaller than the speech threshold value, the decision section 17 selects the call notification using vibration. When the noise component is the dominant component and the dominant noise component exceeds a predetermined noise threshold, the decision section 17 selects the call notification using the vibration and the ringing tone. When the noise component is the dominant component and the dominant noise component is equal to or less than a predetermined noise threshold value, the decision section 17 selects the call notification using the ringing tone.

An example of a method of determining which of the voice component and the noise component is the dominant component is to measure the peak values of the voice component and the noise component a plurality of times periodically, compare their maximum values with each other, and take the larger one as the dominant one. And the maximum value is also compared to a speech threshold and a noise threshold.

In order to sufficiently compare the voice component and the noise component when the maximum values are compared with each other, the comparison may be performed by multiplying one or both of the voice component and the noise component by a predetermined coefficient. For example, the coefficients are determined in such a manner that in a meeting or a lecture, the voice component becomes dominant, and on the street or in a daily living environment, the noise component becomes dominant. The coefficients are selectable by the user. This can ensure that the dominant component is correctly determined using coefficients that match the user's living environment.

Both the speech threshold and the noise threshold are predetermined thresholds. For example, the voice threshold is set at a value that enables the voice in the speaker and the voice in the daily conversation to be distinguished from each other at the time of speech. For example, the noise threshold is set to a value between them that can distinguish whether the user can hear the ringing tone. The speech threshold and the noise threshold are settable by the user. This can ensure a correct decision based on a threshold value matching the user's daily environment. The user may also select the volume of the ringing tone when selecting a call notification with the ringing tone.

Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the relationship between the noise component volume and the ring tone volume.

Referring to fig. 4, when the noise component volume is equal to or lower than a predetermined threshold value a, the decision section 17 does not produce a ringing tone. When the noise component volume is higher than the threshold value a and equal to or lower than a predetermined volume B (B > a), the decision section 17 produces a ringing tone having a volume according to the noise component volume. When the noise component volume is the threshold value a, the ringing tone has the minimum ringing tone volume C. When the volume of the ambient noise is volume B, the ringing tone has maximum ringing tone volume D. When the ambient noise volume is higher than the volume B, the decision section 17 produces a ringing tone having the maximum ringing tone volume D.

The threshold a and volumes B, C and D are settable by the user. When the noise component volume is equal to or lower than the predetermined threshold value a, the decision section 17 may produce a ringing tone having the minimum ringing tone volume C.

The operation of the mobile terminal device is described below.

The mobile terminal device analyzes the surrounding situation by means of the analyzing section 16 regardless of whether there is an incoming call. If there is an incoming call at this time, the mobile terminal apparatus causes the decision section 17 to decide which incoming call alerting means to select based on the analysis result. If there is an incoming call, the mobile terminal apparatus causes the decision section 17 to immediately notify the user of the incoming call by using the incoming call alerting means.

The operation of the mobile terminal device when analyzing the surrounding situation and deciding the incoming call alerting means is described below.

Fig. 5 is a diagram showing the operation of the mobile terminal device when an incoming call alerting means is determined. Referring to fig. 5, the mobile terminal device initializes a counter for counting the number of consecutive measurements to zero at S101. At S102, the mobile terminal device measures the peak values of the voice component and the noise component and increments the counter by 1. At S103, the mobile terminal device determines whether the number of consecutive measurements reaches a value n. The value n is the number of measurements performed to eliminate variations in determination caused by variations in the volume of the voice component and the noise component.

When the number of consecutive measurements does not reach n, the mobile terminal device starts a short timer as a timer of a consecutive measurement cycle and waits for the timer to time out at S104. When the short timer times out, the mobile terminal apparatus returns to the processing of S102.

When the number of consecutive measurements reaches n, the mobile terminal device extracts the largest ones of the peaks of the voice component and the noise component and analyzes the surrounding situation by comparing them with a predetermined method at S105. Therefore, the mobile terminal apparatus determines which of the voice component and the noise component is the dominant component or whether the dominant frequency component exceeds its corresponding threshold.

At S106, the mobile terminal apparatus determines which incoming call alerting device is selected according to the analysis result at S105. At S107, the mobile terminal apparatus starts a long timer for determining the cycle of the incoming call alerting device, and waits for the timer to time out. At S108, the mobile terminal device always monitors the execution of the location registration when the long timer times out. When the long timer times out or the location registration is performed, the mobile terminal device returns to the process of S101.

Note that, for example, the short timer is a timer of about several seconds to several tens of seconds, and the long timer is a timer of about several minutes to several tens of minutes.

In the illustrated embodiment, although the analysis section 16 and the determination section 17 operate according to the set conditions shown in fig. 3, other conditions may be set. When the surrounding sound is so loud that the user cannot hear the ringing tone, the user may be notified of the incoming call with the three of vibration, ringing tone, and lighting. In this case, first and second voice thresholds and first and second noise thresholds are provided. Assume that the second speech threshold is greater than the first speech threshold and the second noise threshold is greater than the first noise threshold. And when analyzing the surrounding situation based on the voice component volume and the noise component volume, the analysis section 16 determines which of the voice component and the noise component is the dominant component and compares the peak value of the dominant component with the first and second voice or noise thresholds. The first voicing threshold and the first noise threshold are the same as the voicing threshold used in the example of fig. 3. The second voice threshold and the second noise threshold are thresholds capable of distinguishing between ambient sounds that are large enough to make the user unable to hear the ringing tone.

Therefore, the mobile terminal apparatus separates the ambient sound into a speech component and a noise component in the filter section 14, analyzes the relationship between their levels and the level of the predominant one of them in the analysis section 15, and determines that at least one of the ringing tone generation section 11, the vibrator 12 and the light emitting section 13 is optimum in the determination section 17 according to the analysis result so as to perform incoming call ringing suitable for a situation predictable according to the ambient sound, and the user will not forget the setting of the non-ringing mode to disturb the surrounding people or will not miss an incoming call.

Furthermore, the mobile terminal device may notify the user of the incoming call by using a low volume ring alert in a relatively quiet situation and by using a high volume ring alert in a relatively noisy situation.

Fig. 6 is a table showing conditions of other settings according to an embodiment of the present invention. In fig. 6, a very high volume of the dominant component means that the speech component or the noise component as the dominant component exceeds the second speech threshold or the noise threshold. Also, a high volume of the dominant component means that the voice component or the noise component as the dominant component exceeds the first voice threshold or the noise threshold and is equal to or smaller than the second voice threshold or the noise threshold. A low volume of the dominant component means that the speech component or the noise component as the dominant component is equal to or less than the first speech threshold or the noise threshold.

Referring to fig. 6, when the voice component is the dominant component and the dominant voice component exceeds the second voice threshold, the decision section 17 selects a call notification using vibration, a ring tone, and lighting. When the speech component is the dominant component and the dominant speech component exceeds the first voice threshold but is equal to or less than the second voice threshold, the decision section 17 selects the call notification using vibration. When the speech component is the dominant component and the dominant component is equal to or smaller than the first voice threshold value, the decision section 17 selects the call notification using vibration and light emission.

When the noise component is the dominant component and the dominant noise component exceeds the second noise threshold value, the decision section 17 selects the call notification using vibration, ringing tone, and lighting. When the noise component is the dominant component and the dominant noise component exceeds the first threshold value but is equal to or less than the second noise threshold value, the decision section 17 selects the call notification using the vibration and the ringing tone. When the noise component is the dominant component and the dominant noise component is equal to or less than the first noise threshold value, the decision section 17 selects the call notification with the ringing tone.

Therefore, when the ambient sound is large enough to make the user unable to hear the ringing tone, the mobile terminal device performs call notification together with the ringing tone by vibration and lighting, so that the user can respond to the incoming call even in the case of severe noise.

In the illustrated embodiment, although the decision section 17 produces a ringing tone having a volume corresponding to the volume of the noise component when the volume of the noise component is greater than the threshold a and equal to or lower than the predetermined volume, other cases are possible.

Fig. 7 is a diagram showing another example of the relationship between the noise component volume and the ring tone volume. In the example of fig. 7, the thresholds E1 and E2 are also provided in a range in which the noise component volume is higher than the threshold a and equal to or lower than the volume B. When the volume of the noise component is higher than the threshold a and equal to or lower than the threshold E1, the decision section 17 sets the volume of the ringing tone to the minimum ringing tone volume C. When the volume of the noise component is higher than the threshold E1 and equal to or lower than the threshold E2, the decision section 17 sets the ringing tone to the volume F1. When the volume of the noise component is higher than the threshold E2 and equal to or lower than the volume B, the decision section 17 sets the ringing tone to the volume F2. The thresholds E1 and E2 and the sound volumes F1 and F2 may be set by the user.

Although the mobile terminal device adjusts the volume of the ringing tone according to the volume of the surrounding noise, not only the volume of the ringing tone but also the tone quality of the ringing tone including the melody may be adjusted accordingly. The tone quality of the ringing tone can be adjusted individually.

This may ensure that a more effective ring tone is selected, such as announcing the incoming call with a pleasant melody in the case of being relatively quiet, or with a tone that may attract the attention of the user in the case of being relatively noisy.

In the illustrated embodiment, although the maximum value is compared with each other in a plurality of measurements to determine which of the speech component and the noise component is the dominant component, other methods may be used. For example, the mean of the peaks measured multiple times may be compared with each other, and the larger one may be set to be dominant. Further, the frequency band of the noise component may be set as the dominant frequency band, and the integrated value of the voice component is compared with the integrated value of the noise component. The dominant component may also be determined using a correlation function.

Another embodiment of the present invention is described with reference to the drawings.

Fig. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a mobile terminal device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to fig. 8, the mobile terminal device has a ringing tone generating section 11, a vibrator 12, a light emitting section 13, a microphone 14, a signal processing section 31, and a decision section 17. The ringing tone generating part 11, the vibrator 12, the light emitting part 13, the microphone 14 and the decision part 17 are the same as those shown in fig. 1.

The signal processing section 31 is a DSP (digital signal processor) that performs digital signal processing such as data compression, and acquires frequency allocation by analyzing the ambient sound signal received by the microphone 14. Further, from a peak in a voice band from the frequency allocation and peaks in other bands, the signal processing section 31 finds which of the speech component and the noise component is the dominant component. The signal processing section 31 also finds whether the peak value of the dominant component exceeds a predetermined threshold. Here, the signal processing section 31 analyzes which of the set conditions shown in fig. 3 is matched and the decision section 17 selects an incoming call alerting device according to the analysis result.

The signal processing device 31 can analyze which of the set conditions shown in fig. 6 is matched and the decision section 17 can select an incoming call alerting device according to the analysis result. The signal processing section 31 can determine from the volume over the entire frequency band that the ambient sound is large enough to make the user unable to hear the ringing tone. In this case, a threshold value for comparison with the entire volume is used instead of the second voice threshold value and the second noise threshold value used in fig. 6.

Therefore, the mobile terminal device in fig. 8 processes the signal of the ambient sound and analyzes the relationship between the levels of the speech component and the noise component and the level of the dominant one of them in the signal processing section 31. The mobile terminal apparatus determines in the decision part 17 that at least one of the ringing tone generation part 11, the vibrator 12 and the light emitting part 13 is optimum according to the analysis result. In this way, incoming call ringing can be performed that is suitable for situations where it is predictable from ambient sound, and the user will not forget the setting of the non-ringing mode and disturb others in the surroundings or will not miss an incoming call.

Since the signal processing section 31 can share one DSP that the mobile terminal device already has, it is not necessary to add one DSP for realizing its function. Also, it does not hinder reduction in size and weight of the mobile terminal device and does not increase the cost so much.

Another embodiment of the present invention is described below with reference to the drawings.

Fig. 9 is a resulting block diagram of a mobile terminal device according to another embodiment of the present invention. Referring to fig. 9, the mobile terminal device has a ringing tone generating/vibrator part 41, a light emitting part 13, a microphone 14, a filter 15, an analyzing part 16, and a decision part 17. The light emitting section 13, the microphone 14, the filter 15, the analyzing section 16, and the determining section 17 are the same as those of the mobile terminal apparatus shown in fig. 1.

The ringing part 41 has the functions of the ringing tone generating part 11 and the vibrator 12 in fig. 1.

Fig. 10 is a block diagram showing the structure of ringing section 41. Referring to fig. 10, the ringing part 41 has a ringing tone signal generating part 21, an amplifier 22 and a vibrator-integrated speaker 51. The ringing tone signal generating section 21 and the amplifier 22 are the same as those in fig. 2. The vibrator-integrated speaker 51 has functions of a vibrator and a speaker. The vibrator-integrated speaker 51 generates vibration when a low frequency signal of about 100Hz is inputted, and the vibrator-integrated speaker 51 generates a sound when a signal in a voice band is supplied.

Obviously, numerous modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is, therefore, to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.

Claims (48)

1. A mobile terminal device, comprising:

a plurality of notification means for notifying a user of an incoming call;

detecting means for detecting ambient sound;

separating means for separating ambient sound into a first component in a voiced band and a second component in a band outside said voiced band;

analysis means for determining that one of the first component and the second component is a dominant component based on a relationship between the volumes of the components; and

a determination means for selecting at least one of the plurality of notification means according to which of the first component and the second component is a dominant component and a volume of the dominant component.

2. A mobile terminal device according to claim 1, wherein said first component is a speech component and said second component is a non-speech component.

3. The mobile terminal device of claim 2, wherein the plurality of notification means comprises at least one of a tone alerting means, a vibrating means, or a light emitting means.

4. The mobile terminal apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said decision means selects said vibration means when said voice component is a predominant component and exceeds a first threshold value, said decision means selects said vibration means when said voice component is a predominant component and is equal to or smaller than said first threshold value, said decision means selects said vibration means and said tone alerting means when said non-voice component is a predominant component and exceeds a second threshold value, and said decision means selects said tone alerting means when said non-voice component is a predominant component and is equal to or smaller than said second threshold value.

5. The mobile terminal device according to claim 3, wherein the determination means selects the vibration means and the light-emitting means when the voice component is a dominant component and is equal to or smaller than a first threshold value.

6. The mobile terminal apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said decision means selects said vibration means, said tone alerting means, and said light emitting means when said voice component is a dominant component and exceeds a third threshold value larger than said first threshold value, and when said non-voice component is a dominant component and exceeds a fourth threshold value larger than said second threshold value.

7. The mobile terminal device according to claim 2, wherein said analysis means determines which of said voice component and said non-voice component is a dominant component by acquiring peaks of volumes of said voice component and said non-voice component at least once and comparing a maximum value of said peaks of said voice component with a maximum value of said peaks of said non-voice component.

8. The mobile terminal device according to claim 2, wherein said analysis means determines which of said voice component and said non-voice component is a dominant component by acquiring peaks of volumes of said voice component and said non-voice component at least once and comparing an average of said peaks of said voice component with an average of said peaks of said non-voice component.

9. The mobile terminal device according to claim 2, wherein the analyzing means determines a frequency band of the non-voice component in advance, and determines which of the voice component and the non-voice component is a dominant component by acquiring an integral value of volumes of the voice component and the non-voice component at least once and comparing a maximum value of the integral value of the voice component with a maximum value of the integral value of the non-voice component.

10. The mobile terminal device according to claim 2, wherein the analyzing means determines a frequency band of the non-voice component in advance, and determines which of the voice component and the non-voice component is a dominant component by acquiring an integrated value of volumes of the voice component and the non-voice component at least once and comparing an average value of the integrated values of the voice component with an average value of the integrated values of the non-voice component.

11. The mobile terminal device according to claim 2, wherein said analysis means determines which of said speech component and said non-speech component is the dominant component by using a correlation function.

12. A mobile terminal device according to claim 3, wherein said analyzing means changes the volume of said tone alerting means in accordance with the volume of the dominant component.

13. A mobile terminal device according to claim 3, wherein said analyzing means changes the tone quality of said tone alerting means in accordance with the volume of the dominant component.

14. The mobile terminal device according to claim 2, wherein said analysis means periodically updates which of said voice component and said non-voice component is a dominant component.

15. The mobile terminal device according to claim 2, wherein said analysis means updates which of said voice component and said non-voice component is a dominant component when performing location registration.

16. A mobile terminal device according to claim 1, wherein said detection means comprises a microphone.

17. The mobile terminal device of claim 1, wherein said separating means comprises a filter.

18. The mobile terminal device of claim 3, wherein said tone alerting means comprises a ringing tone signal generator and a speaker.

19. The mobile terminal device of claim 18, wherein said tone alerting means further comprises an amplifier.

20. A mobile terminal device according to claim 3, wherein said vibrating means comprises a vibrator.

21. A mobile terminal device according to claim 3, wherein said light emitting means comprises a light emitting diode.

22. A mobile terminal device according to claim 3, wherein said light emitting means comprises a backlight.

23. A mobile terminal device according to claim 3, wherein said light emitting means comprises a color changing display panel.

24. The mobile terminal device of claim 1, wherein said separating means and determining means are in a digital signal processor.

25. The mobile terminal device of claim 24, wherein:

the digital signal processor determining that one of the first component and the second component is a dominant component according to a relationship between volumes of the first component and the second component; and

the determination means selects at least one of the plurality of notification means according to which of the first component and the second component is a dominant component and a volume of the dominant component.

26. The mobile terminal device according to claim 25, wherein said first component is a speech component and said second component is a non-speech component.

27. The mobile terminal device of claim 26, wherein the plurality of notification means comprises a tone alerting means, a vibrator, or a light emitting means.

28. The mobile terminal apparatus of claim 27, wherein the determination means selects the vibrator when the voice component is a dominant component and exceeds a first threshold value, selects the vibrator when the voice component is a dominant component and is equal to or less than the first threshold value, selects the vibrator and the tone alerting means when the non-voice component is a dominant component and exceeds a second threshold value, and selects the tone alerting means when the non-voice component is a dominant component and is equal to or less than the second threshold value.

29. The mobile terminal apparatus according to claim 27, wherein said determination means selects said vibrator and said light emitting means when said voice component is a dominant component and is equal to or smaller than a first threshold value.

30. The mobile terminal apparatus according to claim 28, wherein said determination means selects said vibrator, said tone alerting means, and said light emitting means when said voice component is a dominant component and exceeds a third threshold value larger than said first threshold value, and when said non-voice component is a dominant component and exceeds a fourth threshold value larger than said second threshold value.

31. The mobile terminal apparatus of claim 26, wherein the digital signal processor determines which of the voice component and the non-voice component is a dominant component by acquiring peaks of volumes of the voice component and the non-voice component at least once and comparing a maximum value of the peaks of the voice component with a maximum value of the peaks of the non-voice component.

32. The mobile terminal apparatus of claim 26, wherein the digital signal processor determines which of the voice component and the non-voice component is a dominant component by acquiring peaks of volumes of the voice component and the non-voice component at least once and comparing an average of the peaks of the voice component with an average of the peaks of the non-voice component.

33. The mobile terminal device according to claim 26, wherein the signal processor determines a frequency band of the non-voice component in advance, and the digital signal processor determines which of the voice component and the non-voice component is a dominant component by acquiring an integrated value of volumes of the voice component and the non-voice component at least once and comparing a maximum value of the integrated value of the voice component with a maximum value of the integrated value of the non-voice component.

34. The mobile terminal device according to claim 26, wherein the digital signal processor determines a frequency band of the non-voice component in advance, and determines which of the voice component and the non-voice component is a dominant component by acquiring an integrated value of volumes of the voice component and the non-voice component at least once and comparing an average value of the integrated values of the voice component with an average value of the integrated values of the non-voice component.

35. The mobile terminal apparatus of claim 26, wherein said digital signal processor determines which of said speech component and said non-speech component is the dominant component by using a correlation function.

36. The mobile terminal device of claim 27, wherein the digital signal processor changes the volume of the tone alerting means according to the volume of the dominant component.

37. The mobile terminal device of claim 27, wherein said digital signal processor changes the tone quality of said tone alerting means according to the volume of the dominant component.

38. The mobile terminal device of claim 26, wherein the digital signal processor periodically updates which of the speech component and the non-speech component is the dominant component.

39. The mobile terminal apparatus of claim 26, wherein the digital signal processor updates which of the voice component and the non-voice component is a dominant component when performing location registration.

40. The mobile terminal device according to claim 24, wherein said detecting means comprises a microphone.

41. The mobile terminal device of claim 27, wherein said tone alerting means comprises a ringing tone signal generator and a speaker.

42. The mobile terminal device of claim 41, wherein said tone alerting means further comprises an amplifier.

43. The mobile terminal device of claim 27, wherein said light emitting means comprises a light emitting diode.

44. The mobile terminal device of claim 27, wherein said light emitting means comprises a backlight.

45. The mobile terminal device of claim 27, wherein said light emitting means comprises a color changing display panel.

46. An incoming call alerting method for a mobile terminal device, comprising:

detecting ambient sound;

separating the ambient sound into a first component in a voiced band and a second component in a band outside the voiced band;

determining how to notify a user of an incoming call based on the first component and the second component;

receiving the incoming call;

notifying a user of the incoming call based on the determination of the user notification;

determining that one of the first component and the second component is a dominant component according to a relationship between the volumes of the components; and

controlling the user notification according to which of the first component and the second component is a dominant component and a volume of the dominant component.

47. The incoming call alerting method for a mobile terminal device of claim 46, wherein the first component is a speech component and the second component is a non-speech component.

48. The incoming call alerting method for a mobile terminal device according to claim 46, wherein the user notification is at least one of a ringing tone, vibration, and illumination.