Portable telephone

• US 8,180,317 B2
• Filed: 11/10/2005
• Issued: 05/15/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/07/2004
• 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: Fujimoto, Masao
• Primary Examiner(s): Bost, Dwayne
• Assistant Examiner(s): MEHRA, INDER P
• Application Number:
  US11/792,396
• Publication Number:
  US 20080139169A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,378 Days
• Field of Search: 455/404.1, 455/404.2, 455/414.3, 455/414.5, 455/415, 455/440, 455/456.1, 455/426.1, 455/560
• US Class Current: 455/404.1
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0269 System arrangements wherein the object is to detect the exact location of child or item using a navigation satellite system, e.g. GPS
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/016 Personal emergency signalling and security systems emergency non-personal manually actuated alarm activators G08B25/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• 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

Abstract

A technique to notify an emergency center of the position of a caller making an emergency call using a portable terminal equipped with a position information acquiring function is provided such that reliable and accurate notification of position information is performed in cases of emergency. Upon entry of an emergency call instruction on the portable terminal, a detailed positioning/notifying operation is initiated separately from an outgoing call operation. Even after the call is completed, the positioning operation is prohibited from interruption or termination until the positioning/notifying operation is completed. According to additional features of the invention, if the detailed positioning/notifying operation determines that the current area is not GPS-enabled, a charge wave is outputted and a notification of position information provided by an IC tag is given. Furthermore, if the portable terminal gets out of communication range before completion of the positioning/notifying operation, the positioning/notifying operation is maintained.

Claims

1. A portable terminal having a function for acquiring position information, comprising:

a control unit for exerting control such that, upon entry of an emergency call instruction, a detailed positioning/notifying operation is initiated independently of and carried out concurrently with an ongoing outgoing voice call, wherein

the control unit prohibits the detailed positioning/notifying operation from being interrupted or terminated even after the end of the outgoing voice call until the detailed positioning/notifying operation is completed.

2. The portable terminal according to claim 1, wherein the control unit exerts control such that an emergency call operation is maintained until the detailed positioning/notifying operation is completed.

3. The portable terminal according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the control unit exerts control such that, during the emergency call operation, the emergency call instruction is rendered valid.

4. The portable terminal according to claim 1, wherein the control unit exerts control such that a simplified positioning/notifying operation is carried out independently of the detailed positioning/notifying operation.

5. The portable terminal according to claim 1, wherein the control unit exerts control such that, in the detailed positioning/notifying operation, it is determined whether or not a current area is a GPS positioning-allowed area, and when the current area is determined to be a GPS positioning area, GPS positioning is initiated and a notification of a positioning result is given, whereas when the current area is determined not to be a GPS positioning area, a charge wave is outputted and a notification of position information based on an IC tag, if obtained, is given as a positioning result.

6. The portable terminal according to claim 5, wherein, upon entry of an emergency call instruction, a detailed positioning/notifying operation is initiated independently of an outgoing call operation, wherein the detailed positioning/notifying operation is maintained even if the portable terminal later gets out of range of a communications service area before completion of the detailed positioning notification.

7. An emergency call system comprising:

the portable terminal according to claim 1; and

an emergency call center for receiving an emergency call and position information based on an emergency call instruction entered on the portable terminal.

8. The portable terminal according to claim 1, wherein the control unit exerts control such that another emergency call instruction is made valid even in a case where the detailed positioning/notification operation has not been completed.

9. The portable terminal according to claim 1, wherein the control unit exerts control such that when the portable terminal gets out of range during a call, the position information measured immediately before a disconnection is stored and the detailed positioning/notifying operation is maintained.

10. A method for making an emergency call using a portable terminal having a function for acquiring position information, the method comprising the steps of:

initiating, independently of and carried out concurrently with an ongoing outgoing voice call, a detailed positioning/notifying operation upon reception of an emergency call instruction;

carrying out said outgoing voice call; and

entering into a standby state on condition that the step of making the outgoing voice call has been completed and that the step of giving a notification of detailed positioning acquired by the detailed positioning/notifying operation has been carried out.

11. The emergency call method according to claim 10, further comprising the step of carrying out a simplified positioning/notifying operation independently of the detailed positioning/notifying operation, the simplified positioning/notifying operation providing position information having lower accuracy than the position information obtained by the detailed positioning/notifying operation.