INFORMATION TERMINAL AND COMPUTER PROGRAM

• US 20110090883A1
• Filed: 10/15/2010
• Published: 04/21/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/16/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Original Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Inventors: TANAKA, Hideki, SHIOTSU, Shinichi, YAMADA, Isamu
• Granted Patent: US 8,724,602 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/338
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3203 Power management, i.e. event-based initiation of a power-saving mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3287 by switching off individual functional units in the computer system
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/1418 Removal detected by failure in electrical connection between the appliance and a control centre, home control panel or a power supply
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 60/04 using triggered events
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

An information terminal includes: a wireless communication section configured to communicate with an outside; a main functional section configured to perform an information processing operation that includes data communication with the outside, performed using the wireless communication section; a monitoring section configured to detect a state of power supply for the main functional section; and a communication control section configured to cause the wireless communication section to transmit data, preliminarily stored in a memory, to the outside when the state detected by the monitoring section corresponds to a state in which the main functional section is not capable of performing data communication using the wireless communication section.

Claims

1. An information terminal comprising:

a wireless communication section configured to communicate with an outside;

a main functional section configured to perform an information processing operation that includes data communication with the outside using the wireless communication section;

a monitoring section configured to detect a state of power supply for the main functional section; and

a communication control section configured to cause the wireless communication section to transmit data, preliminarily stored in a memory, to the outside when the state detected by the monitoring section corresponds to a state in which the main functional section is not capable of performing data communication using the wireless communication section.

2. The information terminal according to claim 1, wherein the data preliminary stored in the memory and transmitted includes information on whereabouts of the information terminal.

3. The information terminal according to claim 1, wherein

when the main functional section is in a state in which the main functional section is capable of performing the information processing operation, the main functional section stores data that indicates an operation status of the information terminal in the memory.

4. The information terminal according to claim 1, wherein

the memory is included in an element that also includes the communication control section.

5. The information terminal according to claim 1, further comprising:

a switching control section configured to perform a switching control operation in response to the state detected by the monitoring section, the switching control section switches control of the wireless communication section to one of the main functional section and the communication control section.

6. The information terminal according to claim 1, further comprising:

a memory section configured to store access point information used by the communication control section for transmitting the data;

the communication control section connects to a management apparatus on the basis of the access point information, and transmits the data.

7. The information terminal according to claim 1, further comprising:

an intermittent operation control section configured to alternately switch a state of the wireless communication section between an operational state and a nonoperational state

the intermittent operation control section sets an operation interval to a timer, changes the state of the wireless communication section to the operational state in response to an interrupt from the timer, and changes the state of the wireless communication section to the nonoperational state in response to termination of data transmission performed by the communication control section.

8. The information terminal according to claim 1, further comprising:

an intermittent operation control section configured to alternately switch a state of the communication control section between an operational state and a nonoperational state.

9. A recording medium that records a program for causing a microcontroller, which is included in an information terminal and is different from a processor in a main functional section also included in the information terminal, to execute a processing operation, the processing operation comprising:

detecting a state of power supply for the main functional section which is configured to perform an information processing operation that includes data communication with an outside using a wireless communication section; and

when the state of power supply does not correspond to an operational state, causing the wireless communication section to transmit data stored in a memory in which the main functional section stores an operation status of the information terminal.

10. The recording medium according to claim 9, wherein the data stored in the memory and transmitted includes information on whereabouts of the information terminal.

11. The recording medium according to claim 9, wherein the program causing the microcontroller to execute the processing operation that further comprises:

alternately switch a state of the wireless communication section between an operational state and a nonoperational state;

setting an operation interval to a timer in the microcontroller; and

changing the state of the wireless communication section to the operational state in response to an interrupt from the timer.