Portable terminal

• US 20020115410A1
• Filed: 03/25/2002
• Published: 08/22/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 11/25/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Original Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Inventors: Nishida, Hirohide, Higashino, Mitsuhiro
• Granted Patent: US 6,909,876 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/41.2
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 15/063 using wireless information transmission between the vehicle and a fixed station identification of vehicles G08G

Abstract

A portable terminal of this invention has a portable phone control section which performs processing for a portable phone via a radio wave in a certain frequency band. This portable terminal also has a transmission section and a reception section which have respective functions as an on-board machine in an electronic toll collection system and transacts ETC information on automatic toll collection to and from a radio equipment installed at a tollgate via a radio wave in a different frequency band. A common control unit also provided in the portable terminal controls switching between the functions as the terminal and the machine according to the frequency band of the received radio wave. Thus, the electronic toll collection system can be used by the user at a low cost, and also established as the infrastructure.

Claims

1. A portable terminal comprising:

a portable phone unit which performs processing related to a portable phone via a radio wave in a first frequency band;

an automatic toll collection unit which has a function as an on-board machine in an electronic toll collection system and transmits and receives automatic toll collection information related to automatic toll collection to and from a radio equipment installed at a tollgate via radio wave in a second frequency band different from the first frequency band; and

a control unit which controls switching between the function of the portable phone unit and the function of the automatic toll collection unit, according to the frequency band of the received radio wave.

2. The portable terminal according to claim 1, further comprising a read and write control unit which controls read and write of the automatic toll collection information with respect to a recording medium used in the electronic toll collection system.

3. The portable terminal according to claim 1, further comprising a display unit which can display both the information related to the portable phone and the automatic toll collection information.

4. The portable terminal according to claim 2, further comprising a notification unit which monitors at least the insertion state of said recording medium, and notifies that said recording medium is not inserted when such a state is monitored.