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Mobile Phone Patent Abstract
A method of providing data communication services between an external
electronic device such as a personal computer which is connected
to a communication device such as a mobile phone, comprising the
steps of: periodically checking a connection state to generate connection
state data, storing said connection state data in a memory, and
determining whether to provide said data communication services
according to said stored connection state data. A device for performing
the method is also disclosed.
Mobile Phone Patent Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A method of controlling a radio data communication channel of
a mobile phone having a connection with an external electronic equipment,
comprising the steps of: monitoring a data communication state of
the connection, wherein the data communication state is separate
from the radio data communication channel; and holding the radio
data communication channel based on the data communication state.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein said monitoring step is performed
periodically in accordance with a predetermined time period.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the external equipment comprises
a personal computer.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the personal computer is connected
to the mobile phone by a cable.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the external equipment comprises
a fax machine.
6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of storing
a connection state data in a memory of said mobile phone, and periodically
updating said connection state data for storage in said memory.
7. A method of providing data communication services to a communications
device based on a connection state between said communications device
and an external electronic equipment, wherein said connection state
is separate from said data communication service provided to said
communication device, comprising the steps of: setting a data flag
indicative of whether said connection state between said external
electronic equipment and said communications device is normal; determining
whether call data received by the communications device indicates
whether said data communication services are being provided; retrieving
said data flag when said call data indicates said communication
services are being provided; and determining whether to continue
providing said data communication services based on said data flag.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein data communication services are
provided depending whether said data flag is set to "1"
or "0", such that services are provided when said data
flag is set to "1".
9. The method of claim 8, further comprising the step of determining
whether to cancel an ongoing data communication services according
to the updated data flag, said data communication services being
cancelled when said data flag is set to "0".
10. The method of claim 7, wherein the external equipment is connected
to the communications device by a cable.
11. The method of claim 7, wherein the external equipment is a
personal computer.
12. The method of claim 7, wherein the communications device is
a mobile phone.
13. The method of claim 7, wherein the communications device is
a communications satellite.
14. The method of claim 7, further comprising the step of periodically
checking the connection state so as to update the data flag.
15. A mobile phone for transceiving data communication services
and for separately communicating with a computer, comprising: a
universal asynchronous receiver transmitter (UART) for receiving
data from the computer; a memory for storing a data flag representative
of whether a connection state between the UART and the computer
is normal; and a processor for checking the connection state for
setting the data flag according to the connection state, and for
determining whether to provide data communication services to the
mobile phone according to the state of the data flag.
16. The mobile phone of claim 15, wherein the UART connects the
mobile phone to the computer by means of a data cable.
17. The mobile phone of claim 15, wherein the processor periodically
checks the connection state to update the data flag.
18. The mobile phone of claim 17, wherein the processor further
determines whether to cancel an ongoing data communication according
to the state of the updated data flag.
Mobile Phone Patent Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of providing a mobile
phone with data communication services, and more particularly a
method of providing data communication services for a mobile phone
connected to external electronic equipment, such as a personal computer
(PC) or fax machine, via a data cable.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a mobile phone may be used to provide data communication
services for equipment connected to the mobile phone, such as a
personal computer (PC) or fax machine connected to the mobile phone,
by exchanging data files with the computer or fax machine through
a radio channel allotted for voice communication. The connection
between the external equipment is typically through the provision
of a data cable. However, conventional mobile phones have no means
of detecting the status of the connection between the data cable
attached to the PC and the mobile phone. Consequently, if the data
cable between the mobile phone and the PC is inadvertently disconnected
during data communication, the mobile phone continues the radio
channel communication as if it were still connected to the computer
or fax machine, without detecting the disconnection. This may lead
to a mobile phone service provider billing a user for time during
which the user did not receive data communication services due to
the undetected disconnection of the data cable.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a mobile phone
with a method of terminating a data communication connection when
a data cable between a mobile phone and a personal computer (PC)
is inadvertently disconnected during data communication, thereby
not exposing a user to billing for time during which he was not
receiving data communication services.
The present invention, a method of providing data communication
services for a PC connected by a data cable to a mobile phone, comprises
the steps of periodically checking a connection state of the data
cable to generate connection state data, storing the connection
state data in a memory, periodically updating the connection state
data, and determining whether to provide data communication services
based on the connection state data.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present invention will now be described more specifically with
reference to the attached drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a digital mobile phone and
its connection through a data cable to an external PC in accordance
with the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating a process for checking the
connection state of the data cable connected between the mobile
phone and the PC in accordance with the present invention; and
FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating a process for providing data
communication services in the mobile phone according to the present
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring now to the drawings, in which like reference numerals
represent similar or identical elements, in particular with respect
to FIG. 1, data communication between a mobile phone and a personal
computer (PC) 100, is controlled by a central processing unit (CPU)
211 which controlls the functions of the mobile phone. Programs
for controlling the functions of the mobile phone are stored in
a program memory 212, which may be a flash memory. Data temporarily
generated from the operation of the mobile phone is stored in a
data memory 213, which may be a random access memory (RAM). A nonvolatile
memory 214, which is provided to store phone numbers for shortcut
dialing, and may include system parameters, may be an electrically
erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM). A key pad 215 generates
key signals representing commands and data for input to CPU 211.
State information during operation of the mobile phone is displayed
on a display 216 under control of CPU 211, where the display 216
may be a liquid crystal display (LCD). The communications part of
the mobile phone comprises an RF (radio frequency interface) part
217, frequency conversion part 218, modem 219, and signal processing
part 220, all of which are controlled by CPU 211. The signal processing
part 220 comprises the following (not shown): an encoder (interleaver
& encoder), decoder (deinterleaver & decoder), vocoder,
and PCM codec (coder/decoder). For simplicity, the transmitting
and receiving parts are not separately shown in the drawing. Also
omitted in the drawing are lines representing the control of CPU
211, a sound signal processing circuit, and other components which
are not required for an understanding of the present invention.
In transmission mode, data is encoded by the signal processing
part 220, modulated by the modem 219, subjected to frequency-up-conversion
by the frequency conversion part 218, band-pass filtered and amplified
by the RF part 217, and finally aired through the antenna ANT. In
receiving mode, a weak radio frequency signal coming through the
antenna ANT is low-noise amplified and filtered into the base band
by RF part 217, subjected to frequency-down-conversion by the frequency
conversion part 218, demodulated by the modem 219, and decoded by
the signal processing part 220.
CPU 211 performs data communication with PC 100 through a UART
(Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter) 150 in asynchronous
transfer mode (ATM). UART 150 is a serial/parallel conversion ATM
transceiver that enables data communication between the mobile phone
and PC 100, through the provision of data cable 110, which supports
serial communication used for exchanging data between the mobile
phone and PC 100. While the preferred embodiment of the present
invention provides for connection between the PC 100 and the mobile
phone by means of data cable 110, it is also contemplated that other
connection means may be provided, such as a wireless link or remote
connection.
FIG. 2 describes the detection of the connection state of the data
cable 110 with respect to the external equipment (i.e. PC 100) and
the mobile phone. In step 311, CPU 211 repeatedly counts a predetermined
time for periodically checking the state of the serial port of UART
150. When the given time has elapsed in step 313, CPU 211 checks
the serial port of UART 150 in step 315 to determine whether the
connection between UART 150 and PC 100 by the data cable 110 is
intact. When the connection of the data cable 110 is found to be
intact in step 317, CPU 211 sets a data cable flag stored in a given
region of the data memory 213 as "1" in step 319. However,
if the connection of the data cable is found to be disconnected
in step 317, CPU 211 sets the data cable flag as "0" in
step 318. The data cable flag may alternatively be defined in a
given region of the nonvolatile memory 214 instead of the data memory
213. Subsequent to step 318 or 319, the process returns to step
311 and is repeated.
Referring now to FIG. 3, when the mobile phone is in standby mode
in step 411, CPU 211 checks in step 413 for call data received by
the mobile phone via communications part 217-220 as shown in FIG.
1. If call data has not been received in step 413, other functions
are performed at step 428, such as editing phone numbers, entering
key inputs, etc. However, if call data has been received in step
413, it is analyzed in step 415 to determine in steps 417A and 417B
whether it represents voice communication services or data communication
services. If in step 417A the call data represents voice communication
services, then voice communication services are initiated at step
430; otherwise, the process goes to step 417B. If the call data
represents data communication services in step 417B, the process
goes to step 419 to retrieve the periodically revised data cable
flag from the data memory 213 (or non-volatile memory 284), and
then the process goes to step 421; otherwise, the process goes to
a data service cancelling routine at step 427. In step 421, the
connection state of the data cable is determined according to the
value of the data cable flag. If the flag is detected as "1",
the data cable is normally connected with UART 150 so as to properly
provide data communication services and enters the data communication
service mode in step 423. At this point, the data communication
services routine is called at step 425. If the data cable flag is
not detected as "1" in step 421, the connection of the
data cable is abnormal, or disconnected, and data communication
services are not initiated and data service is cancelled at step
427. Furthermore, the processes of FIGS. 2 and 3 are repeatedly
performed to continuously check the connection state of the data
cable during an ongoing call, and to cancel data communication services
if the data cable flag is not detected as "1".
Thus, the invention provides a means for continuously checking
the status of the connection between a mobile phone and the PC 100,
typically through the provision of data cable 110, so that the user
may avoid unjustified billing fees during inadvertent disconnection
of the data cable 110.
While the present invention has been described with specific embodiments
accompanied by the attached drawings, it will be appreciated by
those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications
may be made thereto without departing from the gist of the present
invention. For example, the invention is applicable to various communications
devices, such as a microwave relay or a communications satellite,
and is not restricted to a mobile telephone. As a further example,
the invention is applicable to various communications links between
the mobile phone and the connected PC, such as a wireless communications
link, and is not restricted to a data cable link.
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