JP2000163334A - Portable information terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily and surely perform the incoming confirmation of electronic mail and the read of contents. SOLUTION: A timer 11 monitors processing time. A line connection control means 12 automatically performs connection control of a line. After the connection, a mail incoming confirming means 13 confirms the incoming of the mail. After the incoming of the mail is confirmed, a mail reading means 14 reads and stores the mail just within the range designated by an operator.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a portable information terminal, and more particularly, to a portable information terminal having an electronic mail function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A personal digital assistant (PDA: Personal D)
Digital Assistants) is a device in which home appliances and computers are integrated by integrating voice and images in addition to text information by digital technology.

[0003] At present, the development of mobile computing environments is progressing due to the spread of mobile phones and PHS, and with this, the development and commercialization of high-performance, low-cost portable information terminal devices using wireless communication services. Is increasingly expected.

On the other hand, in recent years, the number of users of e-mail has increased rapidly, and functions such as voice mail as well as text mail for sending documents have been added to portable information terminal devices as e-mail functions. There is something.

[0005]

However, in the conventional portable information terminal device described above, when confirming the arrival of an e-mail, the terminal is once connected to a line such as the Internet or a personal computer communication network by an operator's operation. However, there is a problem that it is time-consuming and inconvenient because it must be performed afterwards.

Also, when the operator is in a mobile environment where communication is not good, there is a problem that incoming calls may not be confirmed. The present invention has been made in view of such a point, and an object of the present invention is to provide a portable information terminal device that can easily and surely confirm the arrival of an electronic mail and read the contents.

[0007]

According to the present invention, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in a portable information terminal device 10 having an electronic mail function as shown in FIG. Line connection means 12 for automatically controlling connection to a line based on time, mail arrival confirmation means 13 for confirming the arrival of mail, and mail reading means for reading and storing the mail after confirming the arrival of the mail. 14 is provided.

[0008] Here, the timer 11 monitors the mail arrival confirmation time. The line connection means 12 automatically controls connection to the line based on the time. The mail incoming confirmation means 13 confirms the incoming mail. The mail reading means 14 reads and stores the mail after confirming the arrival of the mail.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a principle diagram of a portable information terminal device of the present invention. The portable information terminal device 10 is a portable personal information terminal device corresponding to a PDA or the like, and has an e-mail function.

[0010] The timer 11 monitors the time at which the arrival of a mail addressed to the designated address is confirmed. This time can be arbitrarily set by the operator. For example, it may be set at fixed time intervals, or a fixed time may be set. The setting of the time, the setting of the mail address, and the like are performed by the portable information terminal device 1.
0 is set by the operator using the menu screen.

The line connection means 12 automatically controls connection to a line such as the Internet or a personal computer communication network when a set time comes. After the connection, the mail arrival confirmation unit 13 confirms the arrival of the mail addressed to the designated address.

The mail reading means 14 reads and stores the mail after confirming the arrival of the mail. In this case, only the reading specified range specified by the operator is read and stored.

Next, the configuration of the portable information terminal device 10 will be described. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the portable information terminal device 10. The portable information terminal device 10 is divided into an information processing unit 10a and a wireless communication unit 10b.

The information processing section 10a has a function of information processing control similar to that of a normal portable information terminal device, and includes a timer 11, a mail incoming confirmation means 13 and a mail reading means 14 of the present invention. The wireless communication unit 10b has the same wireless communication control function as a normal mobile phone, and includes the line connection unit 12 of the present invention.

A first power supply is supplied to the information processing section 10a, and a second power supply of a different system from the first power supply is supplied to the radio communication section 10b. Therefore, the information processing unit 1
0a is in the ACTIVE state (the CPU is in the activated state), the wireless communication unit 10b is in the SLEEP state (CP
U is in a sleep state and also in a power saving state).
However, even when the information processing unit 10a is in the SLEEP state, the timer 11 is always in the ACTIVE state.

Here, when the wireless communication unit 10b is not performing any communication, that is, in the SLEEP state, the line connection unit 12 automatically connects to a line such as the Internet or a personal computer communication network immediately after the power is turned on or according to a set time. Connection by performing connection control (information processing unit 1
0a can be in the ACTIVE or SLEEP state).

When the mail arrival confirming means 13 confirms the arrival of the mail to the designated address, the operator receives the message from the screen provided in the portable information terminal device 10, outputs the sound from the speaker or vibrates, etc. Notify.

If the operator requests another data communication or the like while the mail arrival confirmation means 13 is automatically confirming the arrival of the mail, the mail arrival confirmation means 13 receives the mail. The confirmation process is suspended once, and the operator sets an environment state in which communication is desired.

Next, the processing procedure of the mail arrival confirmation will be described with reference to a flowchart. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the mail arrival confirmation. [S1] At the time of the mail arrival confirmation, the timer 11
Puts the information processing section 10a into the ACTIVE state and executes the mail arrival confirmation processing. Then, the mail arrival confirmation unit 13 confirms whether or not communication is possible (a state where the operator is not performing communication or a state where there is no communication request).

For example, when the operator operates the information terminal unit 10a such as address management or does not perform any operation, communication is possible. If the communication is possible, the process proceeds to step S2. If the communication is impossible, the process ends. [S2] The wireless communication unit 10b enters the ACTIVE state,
The line connection means 12 performs a line connection process. [S3] The mail arrival confirming means 13 determines whether the line connection has succeeded or failed. If the line connection is successful, go to step S4. If the line connection has failed, the connection process is terminated several times, and if the connection still does not succeed, the connection process is terminated, and the process proceeds to step S8. [S4] The mail arrival confirmation means 13 sends a command for confirming the arrival of the mail. [S5] The mail arrival check means 13 determines whether there is a mail addressed to the designated address. If there is a mail, go to step S6, otherwise go to step S7. [S6] The mail reading means 14 reads and stores only the specified reading range specified in advance by the operator. [S7] Upon confirming the end of the reading of the mail, the mail arrival confirmation unit 13 instructs the line connection control unit 12 to disconnect the line. [S8] The mail arrival confirming means 13 determines whether there is another mail address designated by the operator. If there is another connection destination, the process returns to step S1, and if not, the process is terminated and the state before the process is returned. For example, the wireless communication unit 10b changes from the ACTIVE state to the SLEEP state.

Here, if the time for confirming the incoming call is set at regular time intervals, the time set by the operator from the time of the last incoming call confirmation or data communication (line connection) by the operator is set. After the elapse.

Next, a description will be given of a processing procedure when a communication request is made by an operator during the processing of confirming the arrival of a mail. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure when a communication request is made by the operator during the processing of confirming the arrival of a mail. [S10] When the communication request is made by the operator, if the line is being connected, the process proceeds to step S11. If the line is not yet connected, the process proceeds to step S17.
Go to [S11] The information processing unit 10a executes the mail arrival confirmation unit 1.
3 displays on the screen the status of the mail arrival confirmation process being performed. [S12] The operator looks at the display screen, and as the next process,
Select one of “continue connection”, “disconnect after reading mail”, and “disconnect”. If "continue connection", go to step S13. If "disconnect after reading mail", go to step S13.
If it is "cut", go to step S15. [S13] The communication request of the operator is released. [S14] The mail reading means 14 reads and stores only the read specified range specified by the operator in advance for unread mail. [S15] The line connection control means 12 disconnects the line. [S16] The line connection control means 12 performs control to connect to a line corresponding to the communication request made by the operator. [S17] The line connection control means 12 connects the line.

As described above, the portable information terminal device 10 of the present invention is configured to automatically connect to a line at a set time, confirm incoming mail, and read mail.

Also, since the content of the mail is read to the range specified by the operator, only the information required by the operator is efficiently stored even in the portable information terminal device 10 having a small storage capacity. be able to.

Further, when the operator is out of service area while traveling or moving at a high speed, there is a case where the operator cannot read the mail, but in the present invention, the line is automatically connected when the set time comes. In this configuration, the mail is read and stored, so that the operator can reliably recognize the contents of the mail even in a mobile environment where the communication state is poor.

Further, even when automatic incoming mail confirmation is made, the operator himself can communicate without any trouble if there is a communication request, so that it is possible to smoothly shift to the line connection requested by the operator. .

In the above description, the mail reading means 14 reads and stores only the read designated range designated by the operator in advance. For the reading range of the mail, using the menu screen of the portable information terminal device 10, for example, reading the entire contents of the mail, reading only the title of the mail, the arrival time, only the sender, or the first of the mail contents From 30
It is possible to set the content reading range of the mail according to the operator's request, such as reading only the characters.

[0028]

As described above, the portable information terminal device of the present invention is configured to automatically connect to a line at a set time, confirm incoming mail, and read mail. This eliminates the need for a troublesome incoming call confirmation operation by the operator, and makes it possible to easily and reliably check the incoming mail and read the contents of the mail.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a principle diagram of a portable information terminal device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a portable information terminal device.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure for confirming a mail arrival;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure when a communication request is made by an operator during processing for confirming the arrival of a mail;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Portable information terminal device 11 Timer 12 Line connection control means 13 E-mail reception confirmation means 14 E-mail reading means

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Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A portable information terminal device having an electronic mail function, a timer for monitoring a mail arrival confirmation time, a line connection means for automatically controlling connection to a line based on the time, A portable information terminal device comprising: a mail arrival confirmation unit for confirming an incoming call; and a mail reading unit for reading and storing the mail after confirming the arrival of the mail. 2. The portable information terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the line connection unit performs wireless communication control to connect to the line. 3. The mail arrival confirming means according to claim 1, wherein if there is another communication request during the mail arrival confirmation, the arrival confirmation is interrupted and the communication is enabled. Portable information terminal device. 4. The portable information terminal device according to claim 1, wherein said mail reading means reads and stores only a specified reading range specified in advance by an operator. 5. A first power supply is supplied to the timer, the mail arrival confirmation means, and the mail reading means, and a second power supply different from the first power supply is supplied to the line connection means. 2. The portable information terminal device according to claim 1, wherein: