Portable information terminal usable in a mobile communications system

• US 6,125,282 A
• Filed: 04/15/1997
• Issued: 09/26/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 04/15/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Urabe, Toshiyuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Trost, William G.
• Assistant Examiner(s): LEGREE, TRACY MICHELLE
• Application Number:
  US08/842,649
• Time in Patent Office: 1,260 Days
• Field of Search: 455/552, 455/556, 455/557, 455/553, 455/456, 455/457, 455/414, 455/432, 455/435, 455/434, 455/550, 455/575, 455/403, 455/422, 455/466, 455/418, 455/344, 455/346, 455/426, 340/825.3
• US Class Current: 455/552.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2747 Scrolling on a display
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/724 User interfaces specially adapted for cordless or mobile telephones
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72457 according to geographic location
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72502 with one base station connected to a single line
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/50 for emergency connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 Terminal devices

Abstract

With a conventional portable information terminal, to obtain specific information, a user must select a table which stores desired specific information from a plurality of tables each storing specific information. A portable information terminal comprises a plurality of tables A1, A2, . . . An, B1, B2, . . . Bn which store various types of specific information which is independent upon regions, communication service companies and the like, and the portable information terminal is characterized by comprising means 21, C1 and C2 for inputting, from an external mobile communication terminal 10 which communicates with base stations of a communication system, access information such as identification numbers of the base stations, the communication service companies and the like, which is held by the external mobile communication terminal 10, to select a table which corresponds to the access information from among the plurality of tables A1, A2, . . . An, B1, B2, . . . Bn.

Claims

1. A portable information terminal provided with a plurality of tables which store information dependent upon particular regions and information dependent upon particular combinations of regions and communication service companies, and means for outputting the information stored in the plurality of tables, the portable information terminal further comprising:

means for inputting access information contained in an external mobile communication terminal which is detachable from the portable information terminal, the access information being usable to select one or more of the tables.

2. The portable information terminal of claim 1, further comprising means for holding the access information inputted through the mobile communication terminal.

3. The portable information terminal according to claim 1, wherein the information dependent upon particular regions includes one or more of addresses, currency data, climate condition, holidays and local time zone.

4. The portable information terminal according to claim 1, wherein the information dependent upon particular combinations of regions and communication service companies comprises third-party telephone numbers.

5. The portable information terminal according to claim 1, wherein the access information comprises one or more of a communication service company identifier, a base station identifier, a field intensity and a bit error rate.

6. The portable information terminal according to claim 1, wherein the means for outputting the information is a display which is part of a user interface.

7. The portable information terminal according to claim 6, wherein said user interface further comprises an input device for inputting a call request based on displayed information.

8. The portable information terminal according to claim 1, wherein the external mobile communication terminal communicates with a base station of a communications system to obtain the access information.

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

a first information access table that is referred to in selecting from among tables that store information dependent upon particular regions;

a second information access table that is referred to in selecting from among tables that store information dependent upon particular combinations of regions and communication service companies; and

means responsive to a demanded specific information for selecting with reference to the first information access table a table that stores information dependent upon one particular region, or for selecting with reference to the second information access table a table that stores information dependent upon one particular combination of a region and a communication service company.

10. A portable information terminal operable as a terminal of a mobile communication system, the portable information terminal comprising:

a communication terminal control section configured to access a base station of a mobile communication system, to receive access information from the accessed base station, and to hold the received access information;

a plurality of tables which store information dependent upon particular regions and information dependent upon particular combinations of regions and communication service companies; and

means for selecting one or more of the tables based on the access information which is held by the communication terminal control section.

11. The portable information terminal according to claim 10, wherein the information dependent upon particular regions includes one or more of addresses, currency data, climate condition, holidays and local time zone.

12. The portable information terminal according to claim 10, wherein the information dependent upon particular combinations of regions and communication service companies comprises third-party telephone numbers.

13. The portable information terminal according to claim 10, wherein the access information comprises one or more of a communication service company identifier, a base station identifier, a field intensity and a bit error rate.

14. The portable information terminal according to claim 10, further comprising a user interface including a display for displaying information from the one or more tables accessed using the access information.

15. The portable information terminal according to claim 14, wherein said user interface further comprises an input device for inputting a call request based on displayed information.

16. The portable information terminal according to claim 10, further comprising:

a first information access table that is referred to in selecting from among tables that store information dependent upon particular regions;

a second information access table that is referred to in selecting from among tables that store information dependent upon particular combinations of regions and communication service companies; and

means responsive to a demanded specific information for selecting with reference to the first information access table a table that stores information dependent upon one particular region, or for selecting with reference to the second information access table a table that stores information dependent upon one particular combination of a region and a communication service company.

17. A portable information terminal operable as a terminal of a mobile communications system, the portable information terminal comprising:

a plurality of communication terminal control sections each configured to access a base station of a different communications system, to receive access information from the accessed base station, and to hold the received access information;

a plurality of tables which store information dependent upon particular regions and information dependent upon particular combinations of regions and communication service companies;

means for selecting the access information held by one of said communication terminal control sections; and

means for selecting one or more of the tables based on the selected access information.

18. The portable information terminal according to claim 17, wherein the information dependent upon particular regions includes one or more of addresses, currency data, climate condition, holidays and local time zone.

19. The portable information terminal according to claim 17, wherein the information dependent upon particular combinations of regions and communication service companies comprises third-party telephone numbers.

20. The portable information terminal according to claim 17, wherein the access information comprises one or more of a communication service company identifier, a base station identifier, a field intensity and a bit error rate.

21. The portable information terminal according to claim 17, further comprising a user interface including a display for displaying information from the one or more tables accessed using the access information.

22. The portable information terminal according to claim 21, wherein said user interface further comprises an input device for inputting a call request based on displayed information.

23. The portable information terminal according to claim 17, wherein the access information is prioritized and the access information is selected based on the priorities.

24. The portable information terminal according to claim 17, further comprising:

a first information access table that is referred to in selecting from among tables that store information dependent upon particular regions; and

a second information access table that is referred to in selecting from among tables that store information dependent upon particular combinations of regions and communication service companies, and

wherein said means for selecting is responsive to a demanded specific information for selecting with reference to the first information access table a table that stores information dependent upon one particular region, or for selecting with reference to the second information access table a table that stores information dependent upon one particular combination of a region and a communication service company.

25. A portable information terminal, comprising:

a communication terminal control section which communicates with base stations of communication systems to obtain access information;

a memory which stores first tables each of which contains information dependent upon a particular region and second tables each of which contains information dependent upon a particular combination of a region and a communication service company, the information dependent upon a particular combination of a region and a communication service comprising third party telephone numbers;

a user interface comprising an input device and an output device, said input device receiving user-supplied requests for information stored in the memory; and

an information terminal control section connected to the communication terminal control section, the information terminal control section being responsive to the user-supplied requests to use the access information obtained by the communication terminal control section to supply information from the memory to the output device.

26. The portable information terminal according to claim 25, wherein each first table includes one or more of addresses, currency data, climate condition, holidays and local time zone.

27. The portable information terminal according to claim 25, wherein the third-party telephone numbers include telephone numbers for one or more of a traffic information service, a weather forecast service, police, emergency medical service and fire department.

28. The portable information terminal according to claim 25, wherein the access information comprises one or more of a communication service company identifier, a base station identifier, a field intensity and a bit error rate.

29. The portable information terminal according to claim 25, wherein the communication terminal control section is detachable.

30. The portable information terminal according to claim 25, wherein said memory further stores:

a first information access table that is referred to in selecting from among the first tables; and

a second information access table that is referred to in selecting from among the second tables, and

wherein said information terminal control section is responsive to the user-supplied requests to use the access information obtained by the communication terminal control section and the first and second information access tables to supply information from the first tables and second tables to said output device.