Personal digital assistance device

• US 6,181,782 B1
• Filed: 01/25/1999
• Issued: 01/30/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 01/26/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Sonoda, Isao
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Duc
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ramakrishnaiah, Melur
• Application Number:
  US09/237,069
• Time in Patent Office: 736 Days
• Field of Search: 379/90.01, 379/93.05, 379/93.36, 379/100.14, 379/93.26, 379/110.01, 379/93.07
• US Class Current: 379/90.01
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3209 Monitoring remote activity, e.g. over telephone lines or network connections
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3287 by switching off individual functional units in the computer system
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

A device of the present invention is a personal digital assistance device for communicating with another device via a telephone line which includes: a connection section for connecting the personal digital assistance device to the telephone line; a communication section for dialing a telephone number of the other device for communication with the other device via the telephone line to which the personal digital assistance device is connected by the connection section, for transferring data between the devices, and for disconnecting the telephone line; a control section for controlling the communication section; a voltage detection section for detecting a voltage of the telephone line to which the personal digital assistance device is connected by the connection section; and a determination section for determining whether the voltage detected by the voltage detection section is equal to or greater than a predetermined voltage. When the determination section determines that the voltage detected by the voltage detection section is equal to or greater than the predetermined voltage, the determination section turns on a power supply for supplying a power to the control section.

Claims

1. A personal digital assistance device for communicating with another device via a telephone line, the personal digital assistance device comprising:

a connection section for connecting the personal digital assistance device to the telephone line;

a communication section for dialing a telephone number of the other device, for transferring data between the devices, and for disconnecting the telephone line, thereby communicating with the other device via the telephone line to which the personal digital assistance device is connected by the connection section;

a control section for controlling the communication section;

a voltage detection section for detecting a voltage of the telephone line to which the personal digital assistance device is connected by the connection section; and

a determination section for determining whether the voltage detected by the voltage detection section is equal to or greater than a predetermined voltage, wherein

when the determination section determines that the voltage detected by the voltage detection section is equal to or greater than the predetermined voltage, the determination section turns on a power supply for supplying power to the control section.

2. A personal digital assistance device according to claim 1, wherein:

the personal digital assistance device includes a setting section for setting whether to turn on or off the power supply; and

when the determination section determines that the voltage detected by the voltage detection section is equal to or greater than the predetermined voltage, the determination section turns on or off the power supply according to a setting made by the setting section.

3. A personal digital assistance device according to claim 1, wherein when it is determined that the voltage detected by the voltage detection section is less than the predetermined voltage after the control section has been connected to the other device via the telephone line to which the personal digital assistance device is connected by the connection section, the determination section turns off the power supply.

4. A personal digital assistance device according to claim 1, wherein when the determination section supplies a power to the control section, the determination section instructs the communication section to dial a predetermined telephone number, to transmit predetermined data to the telephone line and then to disconnect the telephone line.