JP2003319020A - Mobile device - Google Patents

Abstract

[57] [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To issue a notification according to a notification mode in accordance with a user's intention when an interrupt event such as an incoming voice call or an email occurs during a game. A notification mode when an interrupt event occurs is set according to the type or state of application software that is currently activated. Thus, by setting the notification mode in detail, it is possible to take a notification mode that more reflects the user's intention when an interrupt event occurs.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a mobile terminal.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, mobile phones have become multifunctional, and mobile terminals having various functions such as those having a game function and those having a music reproducing function have been put into practical use. . This game function is realized not only by an application program installed in advance in a mobile phone or the like, but also by downloading the application program from a server. Furthermore, JP 2000-1
Japanese Patent Publication No. 04648 discloses a technique for realizing a game function by operating a game application program on a server and transmitting / receiving data by communication with a mobile phone. In this case, a game function is realized by downloading some application programs to the mobile phone and linking the application program on the server with the application program on the mobile phone.

By the way, heretofore, various techniques have been disclosed regarding how to handle an incoming call or the like when using a function other than a telephone in this type of mobile phone. Among these, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-2001
Japanese Patent No. 333153 discloses a mobile phone having a game function, which is capable of performing an appropriate process when an interruption process such as an incoming call occurs while a user is playing a game. Is disclosed. Specifically, in the above-described conventional technique, a plurality of processing modes are provided as options as a method of coping with the occurrence of an interrupt event, and the user can select one of these processing modes. Has become. Then, when an interrupt event occurs, the processing mode selected by the user is executed to perform appropriate processing.

[0004]

As described above, according to the conventional technique, the user can select only one favorite mode from a plurality of processing modes. Therefore, if an interruption event such as an incoming call or mail reception occurs during the game, no matter what kind of game it is or what kind of game situation it is, Notification is performed in the same processing mode. In general, it is obvious that the determination of whether to prioritize the game changes depending on the progress status of the game, the type of the game, and the like.
It always changes at that time. However,
In the above-described conventional technology, since the notification mode cannot be set finely, it is not possible to perform the notification process that sufficiently reflects the user's intention in the occurrence of an interrupt event such as an incoming call or mail reception. It was

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a notification mode according to the user's intention when an interrupting event such as an incoming voice call or mail reception occurs during a game. It is an object of the present invention to provide a mobile terminal capable of making a notification.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a determination means for determining the type of application software currently activated, and a setting means for setting a notification mode based on the determined type. And a notification means for notifying that an interrupt event has occurred based on the set notification mode when a predetermined interrupt event has occurred.

According to the present invention, since the notification mode when an interrupt event occurs can be set according to the type of application software, the notification mode can be set in detail, and when the interrupt event occurs,
It is possible to take a notification mode that further reflects the user's intention.

The invention described in claim 2 is the same as claim 1.
In the portable terminal according to [4], the application software has type information for determining the type of the application in advance, and the determining unit determines the type of the application software based on the type information. It has a feature.

According to the present invention, the determining means can easily determine the type of the application software only by recognizing the type information.

Further, the invention according to claim 3 is such that a judging means for judging the state of the application software currently activated, a setting means for setting a notification mode based on the judged state, and a predetermined interrupt event are generated. There is provided a mobile terminal including a notification unit that notifies that an interrupt event has occurred based on the set notification mode when the event occurs.

According to the present invention, since the notification mode can be set according to the state of the application software, the notification mode can be set in detail, and when the interrupt event occurs, the notification mode that further reflects the user's intention. It is possible to take

The invention according to claim 4 is the same as claim 3
In the portable terminal described in the paragraph 1, the application software is a game, and the determination means determines whether the game is shared with another terminal or is in another state. I am trying.

According to the present invention, it is possible to set a notification mode at the time of an interrupt event depending on whether the game is a battle-type game or whether the game is played jointly. Even depending on the state of the game
It is possible to switch the notification mode in detail, and it is possible to perform the notification in which the intention of the user is reflected in more detail.

As a mode in which a game is jointly played, in addition to a mode in which an application program operates on a server and terminals of a plurality of users collaborate by communication or the like, at least among a plurality of users A mode in which an application program operates on one mobile terminal and a game is shared by communicating with each other without the server or via the server, or the application program on the server is a terminal of each user. It also includes a mode in which the two collaborate by communicating with each other.

The invention described in claim 5 is the same as claim 4
In the portable terminal described in the above item 1, the determining means determines that the game is being shared with another terminal when the communication start process is performed during the start of the game.

According to the present invention, it is possible to easily determine whether or not a game is being shared with another terminal.

The invention described in claim 6 is the same as that of claim 3.
In the portable terminal described in the above item 3, the application is a game, and the determination means determines whether or not the progress state of the game is a state corresponding to a predetermined condition.

According to the present invention, it is possible to set a notification mode at the time of occurrence of an interrupt event in accordance with the progress state of the game. Therefore, it is possible to make a notification in which the user's intention is reflected in detail. It will be possible. Examples of the predetermined condition include, for example, whether the score of the game is a predetermined value or more, whether the game progress is updating the latest record, and whether real-time operation is required.

The invention described in claim 7 is the same as claim 1.
Alternatively, in the mobile terminal according to claim 3, the interruption event is voice reception or mail reception.

The invention according to claim 8 is an information providing device for providing application software via a communication network, wherein an interrupt event occurs according to the type or state of the application software being activated. An information providing apparatus that provides the mobile terminal with type information indicating the type of the application software when a request for providing the application software is received from the mobile terminal whose interrupt notification mode changes.

The present invention may be a mode in which all or a part of the application program is distributed from the information providing device to the portable terminal together with the type information indicating the type of the application program, or the application program is distributed to the portable terminal. Alternatively, only the type information may be distributed to the mobile terminal, and the mobile terminal may operate the application program on the information providing device by communication to realize the game function.

Further, in the invention according to claim 9, the process of determining the type or state of the application currently activated, the process of setting a notification mode based on the determined type, and the occurrence of a predetermined interrupt event In this case, a method of informing that an interrupt event has occurred based on the set notification mode is provided.

Further, in the invention according to claim 10, the step of determining the type or state of the application currently activated, the step of setting a notification mode based on the determined type, and the occurrence of a predetermined interrupt event If you do
And a program for causing a computer to execute a step of notifying that an interrupt event has occurred, based on the set notification mode.

The portable terminal of the present invention is a so-called CD.
MA (code division multiple access) system and PDC (Personal Dig
mobile phones such as ital Cellular System) and PHS
(Personal Handyphone System) (registered trademark), PD
A (Personal Digital Assistants)
It also includes a portable terminal called. Also PD
In the case of A, the communication means may be built in, or the communication means may be connected from the outside.

[0025]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the mobile terminal 1 is a C that controls each circuit unit in the terminal.
PU (Central Processing Unit) 11, ROM (Read Only Memory) 12 in which programs of CPU 11 are stored, CPU 1
RAM for storing data etc. generated during execution of the process 1
(Random Access Memory) 13, wireless communication unit 15, voice processing unit 16, microphone (microphone) 17 that captures external voice and outputs it to the voice processing unit 16, voice processing unit 16
Speaker 1 that emits analog audio signal output from
8. Comprised of a liquid crystal display panel and a display control circuit, C
A display unit 19 for displaying image data supplied from the PU 11 and an operation unit 20 including a ten-key pad for inputting a telephone number and various function keys are provided.

The ROM 12 has various programs for realizing control necessary for a call (for example, position registration, standby, link establishment, handover control, etc.),
An interrupt processing program, a game processing program, and other processing programs are stored. Also, RAM1
3 includes a game program area in which a game program is stored, a game data area in which game data generated in a game is stored, and a memory area for temporarily storing other data. In addition,
Each game program may be stored in the ROM 12 in advance, or may be stored in the RAM 13 after being distributed from the game content distribution server.

The radio communication section 15 is composed of an RF radio section for processing a high frequency analog signal, a baseband modem section for modulating / demodulating a digital signal converted from the analog signal, and the like. The voice processing unit 16 includes a voice codec unit that encodes and decodes a voice signal, a D / A converter that digitally / analog converts the encoded voice signal and outputs the converted voice signal to a speaker 18, and a microphone 17. It is composed of an A / D converter that converts an input voice signal into an analog / digital signal and outputs it to a voice codec.

Next, the operation of the portable terminal having the above configuration will be described. The operation of the mobile terminal when making a call, the operation of making a call, and the operation of a normal incoming call other than in the game mode are the same as those of the conventional mobile terminal, and therefore description thereof is omitted. First, the operation at the start of the game in the mobile terminal according to the present embodiment will be described. First, when playing a game with the mobile terminal, the user operates the operation unit 20 to set the game mode. As a result, when a game mode setting request is supplied from the operation unit 20 to the CPU 11, the CPU 11 reads out from the RAM 13 the list data indicating the types of games included in the terminal, and displays the list data on the display unit 19. Output to. As a result, a list of game types is displayed on the display unit 19.

Next, when the user selects a desired game, information on the selected game is displayed from the operation unit 20 to the CPU 1
1 is supplied. The CPU 11 stores the program of the selected game in the ROM 12 or the RAM 1 which is the storage location thereof.
3, and game processing is executed based on this program. Then, the CPU 11 performs game processing until a signal indicating the end of the game is supplied from the operation unit 20, and when receiving the signal indicating the end of the game, ends the program of the game and returns to the normal standby state.

Next, the processing of the CPU 11 when an interruption event such as an incoming call or mail reception occurs during the execution of the above-mentioned game program will be described.

(1) Operation of the portable terminal according to the first embodiment When interrupt processing such as incoming call or mail reception occurs during execution of the game processing described above, that is, while the user is playing the game. The CPU11
The interrupt processing program as shown in FIG.
And performs interrupt processing based on the read program. First, when the interrupt process occurs while the game is running, the CPU 11 reads the type information of the game program currently being executed (step Sa in FIG. 2).
1). Here, the type information of the game program is information associated with the game program in advance, and one piece of identification information may be associated with one program. In such a case, the identification information may be added according to the progress status of the program.

For example, the type information A is given in advance to a game in which a game is played against another user using a wireless communication device or the like. In addition, type information B is attached to a game other than a game in which another user plays a game by a wireless communication function or the like, which does not require reflexes and is not time-limited. In addition, a game in which the type information A and the type information B are mixed, for example, a scene in which the game is played against another user depending on the game situation, a scene in which the game can be progressed only by the user's own terminal, and a scene in which time is restricted In a game in which there are mixed scenes that do not receive, scenes that require reflexes, scenes that do not require reflexes, and games composed of combinations of the various scenes described above, the type information is added to the scene scenes. Has been done. Therefore, in this case, in the process of executing one program, the type information is switched according to the situation.

The CPU 11 at step Sa1
The type information at the present time of the program currently being executed is read, and if this type information is A, the notification is performed based on the notification mode A. On the other hand, if the type information is B, the notification is performed based on the notification mode B.

Next, the notification process based on the notification mode A executed in step Sa3 of FIG. 2 will be described with reference to FIG. First, the CPU 11 continuously executes the program currently being executed (step Sb1), and notifies the occurrence of an interrupt event such as an incoming call or mail reception by RA.
Record in M13. At this time, no notification is given to the user that the interrupt event has occurred. If the call is received, it is possible to deal with it by an answering machine or the like (step Sb2). Then, CPU1
When 1 receives the signal indicating the end of the game, it ends the running game program (step Sb3) and returns to the normal standby state (step Sb4). Then RAM
The information on the occurrence of the interrupt event recorded in 13 is read out and notified to the user (step Sb5). As a notification method, a message or the like may be displayed on the display unit 19, or notification may be performed by voice from the speaker 18.

Next, the notification processing based on the notification mode B executed in step Sa4 of the above-mentioned flowchart of FIG. 2 will be described with reference to FIG. First, CPU1
1 interrupts the program currently being executed (step S
c1). At this time, so that the game can be restarted later,
Information on the current game is stored in the RAM 13.
Subsequently, the CPU 11 notifies the user of the occurrence of an interruption event such as an incoming call or mail reception in the game suspended state (step Sc2) (step Sc3). Regarding this notification, the above-mentioned step Sb in FIG.
This is similar to the notification in 5. Subsequently, when the user handles the interrupt event, a signal indicating that the handling is completed is sent to the CPU 11
Is supplied to. Upon receiving the signal, the CPU 11
The game information recorded in the RAM 13 is read out and the game is restarted. As a result, the game is put into operation (step Sc7). Subsequently, when the CPU 11 receives the signal indicating the end of the game, the CPU 11 ends the running game program (step Sc8) and returns to the normal standby state (step Sc9).

Next, an example of downloading the game program to which the type information described above is added from an external device, for example, a game program distribution device existing on the Internet will be described. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a system configuration of a wireless communication system. In FIG. 7, the wireless communication system includes a base station 4 and a switching center 5 that manages the base station 4. Further, the wireless communication system is connected to a communication network 7 such as the Internet or a public network via the exchange 5 and exchanges information with other wireless communication systems (carriers) and the game content distribution server 2 that distributes game programs. You can interact with them.

Specifically, the base station 4 covers the service area of the wireless communication system and transmits / receives necessary signals to / from the position-registered mobile terminal 1 to realize voice communication and electronic mail functions. To do. Further, the exchange 5 controls the base station 4 in the wireless communication system via the mobile phone communication network 6 and connects with the communication network 7 including a public line or an internet communication network.

In the above wireless communication system, the procedure for the mobile terminal 1 to download the game program from the game content distribution server 2 will be described with reference to FIG. First, the user of the mobile terminal 1 operates the operation unit 20 to make a connection request with the game content distribution server 2. By such an operation, the line between the game content distribution server 2 and the mobile terminal 1 is connected. Then, the user of the mobile terminal operates the operation unit 20 to specify the game program to be downloaded, and makes a distribution request for this program (step Sf1). As a result, the distribution request for the game program is transmitted to the game content distribution server 2. The game content distribution server 2 reads out the game program for which the distribution request is received from its own database. The type information for determining the type of the game is added to the read game program in advance. The type information is as described above. Then, the game program to which the type information is added is transmitted to the mobile terminal 1 (step Sf2). When the mobile terminal 1 obtains the game program to which the type information is added, the mobile terminal 1 sends the game program to the RA
It is stored in M13 (step Sf3).

(2) Operation of Mobile Terminal According to Second Embodiment Next, operation of the mobile terminal according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described. First, when an interruption event such as an incoming call or mail reception occurs during the game process execution, that is, while the user is playing the game,
The CPU 11 reads out an interrupt processing program as shown in FIG. 5 from the ROM 12 and performs processing based on the read program.

First, when the interrupt process occurs while the game is running, the CPU 11 determines whether or not the communication flag is currently "1" (step Sd1). Here, the communication flag is automatically set while the game program is running.
Alternatively, it is a flag that becomes "1" when a line connection request is generated by a user's instruction. Further, this flag becomes “0” when the communication end operation is performed (that is, when the established line is disconnected). Here, when the line connection request is automatically generated, for example, when the process for connecting the line is inserted in the game program,
The request is automatically generated by the CPU 11 executing the processing. Note that this communication flag is
1 is managed in a predetermined program executed in parallel with the interrupt processing program.

Subsequently, when the current communication flag is "1", the notification process based on the notification mode A is performed (step Sd2). On the other hand, when the communication flag is “0”, the notification process based on the notification mode B is performed (step Sd
3).

As described above, in the present embodiment, it can be considered that the game is shared with other terminals when the wireless line is connected during the execution of the game program. In such a case, since a real-time operation is required for the game, it is thought that a notification mode that prioritizes the game is desirable.
Therefore, the notification mode A is adopted. On the other hand, if the wireless line is not connected while the game program is running,
In particular, since it can be determined that a game in which real-time operation is not considered important is being played, it is considered unnecessary to give priority to the game. Therefore, in this case, the notification mode B, which is a notification method that prioritizes interrupt processing, is adopted. As described above, in the second embodiment, the importance of the game at the present time is estimated based on whether or not the game is being supplied to another terminal, and the interrupt process is notified based on this importance.

(3) Operation of Mobile Terminal According to Third Embodiment Next, operation of the mobile terminal according to the third embodiment of the present invention will be described. First, when an interruption event such as an incoming call or mail reception occurs during the game process execution, that is, while the user is playing the game,
The CPU 11 reads an interrupt processing program as shown in FIG. 6 from the ROM 12 and performs processing based on the read program.

First, when the interruption process occurs during the game activation, the CPU 11 acquires the score of the game currently being executed (step Se1). Then, the highest score so far in the game is acquired from the RAM 13 (step Se2). This can be realized by, for example, storing the highest score in the RAM 13 in association with the game information and the highest score information when the highest score is recorded.
Then, it is determined whether or not the current score exceeds the maximum score, that is, whether or not the maximum score is being updated (step Se3). As a result, if the highest score is being updated, the notification process based on the notification mode A is performed (step S
e4). On the other hand, if the highest score is not being updated, the notification process based on the notification mode B is performed (step Se5). In addition,
The notification process is the same as described above.

As described above, in the present embodiment, for example, when the condition of the game satisfies a certain condition, the notification process based on the notification mode A is performed. If the condition is not satisfied, the notification process based on the notification mode B is performed. It should be noted that in the above-described embodiment, the score is updated as an example of the condition. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is not limited to this, and whether or not the target satisfies a predetermined condition. The notification mode may be changed by determining whether or not. For example,
If it is a game that clears the stage, whether you have cleared the stage that you have not cleared so far,
That is, the record update of the clear stage may be set as a condition. Further, as described above, regardless of the record update, it may be set whether or not the current game situation is a scene where real-time operation is required, that is, real-time operation is a condition.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above with reference to the drawings, the specific structure is not limited to this embodiment, and includes a design and the like within the scope not departing from the gist of the present invention. Be done.

For example, in the above-described first to third embodiments, the type determination and the state determination of the application software are performed after the interrupt processing based on the occurrence of the interrupt event such as the incoming call or the mail reception occurs, and the determination is made. Although the notification process is performed in the notification mode based on the result, the determination is not limited to this, and the determination may be performed at any timing. For example, the type determination and the state determination of the application software are performed at a predetermined timing regardless of the occurrence of the interrupt processing, and the notification mode is set according to the determination result. Then, when the interrupt processing occurs, the notification processing may be performed in the notification mode set at the present time.

Specifically, in the above-mentioned second embodiment, when the line is connected, the communication flag is set to "1".
It was set to, but instead of this communication flag,
When the line is connected, the notification mode is set to A. In other cases, the notification mode is set to B, and when the interrupt processing occurs, the notification mode currently set is set. You may make it read and perform an alerting | reporting process.

Further, in the above-mentioned first to third embodiments, the mode in which the application program such as a game is downloaded from the server to the portable terminal has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the application program is not downloaded from the server. Alternatively, the mobile terminal may be operated on the server, the mobile terminal may communicate with the server to transmit and receive data, and a predetermined process such as a game may be executed. In this case, only the type information indicating the type of application software is transmitted from the server to the mobile terminal. Further, it may be a mode in which a necessary application program is downloaded from the server to the mobile terminal side and a predetermined process such as a game is executed by cooperation of the application programs of both the server and the mobile terminal. Further, in the above-described first to third embodiments, an incoming call or a mail reception is used as an interrupt event, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a time notification such as a wake-up timer of a mobile terminal or a “To Do list” is generally used. "
It also includes a notification for urging the user to take an action based on a list including a time and an action schedule.

[0050]

As described above, according to the portable terminal of the present invention, the notification mode when an interrupt event occurs is set according to the type of application software or the state of the application. Since it is possible to switch the notification mode in detail, it is possible to perform the notification in a form that further reflects the user's intention when an interrupt event occurs.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation of the mobile terminal according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a notification process based on a notification mode A of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a notification process based on a notification mode B of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation of the mobile terminal according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation of the mobile terminal according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a system configuration of a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a communication procedure performed between the mobile terminal and the game content distribution server according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 mobile terminal 2 Game content distribution server 4 base stations 5 exchanges 6 Mobile phone communication network 7 Communication network 11 CPU (determination means, setting means) 12 ROM 13 RAM 15 Wireless communication section 16 Audio processing unit 17 Mike 18 Speakers (informing means) 19 Display unit (informing means) 20 Operation part

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A determination means for determining the type of application software currently running, a setting means for setting a notification mode based on the determined type, and a set notification when a predetermined interrupt event occurs. A mobile terminal, comprising: a notification unit that notifies that an interrupt event has occurred, based on the aspect. 2. The application software is
The mobile terminal according to claim 1, further comprising type information for determining the type of the application in advance, and the determining unit determining the type of application software based on the type information. 3. A determination means for determining the state of application software currently being activated, a setting means for setting a notification mode based on the determined state, and a set notification when a predetermined interrupt event occurs. A mobile terminal, comprising: a notification unit that notifies that an interrupt event has occurred, based on the aspect. 4. The application software is a game, and the determination means determines whether the game is shared with another terminal or is in another state. Mobile terminal. 5. The mobile terminal according to claim 4, wherein the determination means determines that the game is being shared with another terminal when the communication start process is performed during the game is started. . 6. The mobile terminal according to claim 3, wherein the application is a game, and the determination means determines whether or not the progress state of the game corresponds to a predetermined condition. 7. The mobile terminal according to claim 1, wherein the interrupt event is voice reception or mail reception. 8. An information providing apparatus for providing application software via a communication network, wherein a mobile terminal in which an interrupt notification mode when an interrupt event occurs changes according to the type or state of the active application software. An information providing apparatus that, when receiving a request for providing application software from a device, transmits type information indicating the type of the application software to the mobile terminal. 9. A process of determining the type or state of an application currently activated, a process of setting a notification mode based on the determined type, and a notification mode set when a predetermined interrupt event occurs. A method of informing that an interrupt event has occurred based on the above. 10. A step of determining the type or state of an application currently being activated, a step of setting a notification mode based on the determined type, and a notification mode set when a predetermined interrupt event occurs. A program for causing a computer to execute a step of informing that an interrupt event has occurred based on the above.