Radio communication apparatus

• US 20030032445A1
• Filed: 08/08/2002
• Published: 02/13/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 08/09/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Suwa, Yutaka
• Granted Patent: US 7,010,323 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/552.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72505 Radio link set-up procedures
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/02 including a Bluetooth interface

Abstract

A radio communication apparatus of the present invention comprises a radio unit capable of transmitting or receiving a first radio communication signal of a Bluetooth standard and a second radio communication signal of a cordless phone standard and a synchronism discriminator for discriminating a radio communication standard signal. The radio communication apparatus switches between first and second radio communication modes in response to a discrimination result of the synchronism discriminator, detects a type and a weight of a sound error every mode, and adds or subtracts the weight of the sound error in a present slot to or from a weight of a sound error in the previous slot in response to a degree of the sound error in the present slot. This structure allows a single apparatus to transmit or receive both of two kinds of radio communication standard signals, and the sound error is adequately and precisely handled in response to the type and weight of the sound error, thereby improving quality of the sound signal.

Claims

1. A radio communication apparatus comprising:

(a) a radio unit;

(b) a synchronism discriminator for discriminating whether a radio communication standard signal received by said radio unit is one of a signal defined by a first radio communication standard and a signal defined by a second radio communication standard; and

(c) a controller for performing a process in response to a discrimination result of said synchronism discriminator.

2. A radio communication apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein said controller selects one of a communication mode using the first radio communication standard and a communication mode using the second radio communication standard for controlling.

3. A radio communication apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein said synchronism discriminator, on receiving packet data, performs in parallel an operation of detecting presence of synchronization from a positional signal defined by the first radio communication standard and an operation of detecting presence of synchronization from a positional signal defined by the second radio communication standard, the positional signals being in the received packet data.

4. A radio communication apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

(d) a first slot counter for measuring a clock for determining a time position of a slot in first radio communication;

(e) a second slot counter for measuring a clock for determining a time position of a slot in second radio communication; and

(f) a storing unit for storing a value of said first slot counter and a value of said second slot counter,

wherein said storing unit stores the value of said first slot counter when the discrimination result of said synchronism discriminator is a synchronizing signal of the first radio communication, and stores the value of said second slot counter when the discrimination result of said synchronism discriminator is a synchronizing signal of the second radio communication, and

said radio communication apparatus performs a synchronism discriminating process which proceeds to a synchronization receiving process for the first radio communication standard when a present mode indicates the first radio communication standard and a timing of a present received slot is determined to be that of a received slot in the first radio communication standard assigned to said radio communication apparatus, and proceeds to a synchronization receiving process for the second radio communication standard when the present mode indicates the second radio communication standard and the timing of the present received slot is determined to be that of a received slot in the second radio communication standard assigned to said radio communication apparatus.

5. A radio communication apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein said controller detects a type and a weight of a sound error for each of a communication mode using the first radio communication standard and a communication mode using the second radio communication standard, and performs a process corresponding to a detection result.

6. A radio communication apparatus according to claim 5, wherein

said controller, in response to a degree of the sound error of a present slot, performs one of addition of a sound error weight of the present slot to a sound error weight of a previous slot and subtraction the sound error weight of the present slot from the sound error weight of a previous slot, and

said controller changes depth of a sound error handling in response to the sound error weight after one of the addition and the subtraction.

7. A radio communication apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a spike noise detection processor for detecting a spike noise every frame of the received signal and performing a predetermined process for a sound signal including the spike noise.

8. A radio communication apparatus according to claim 7, wherein

said spike noise detection processor determines there is a spike noise in one of cases that a difference between a sound level extracted from a present received frame and a sound level extracted from a previous received frame exceeds a predetermined value and that a difference between an averaged level and the present sound level exceeds a predetermined value, attenuates the sound signal including the spike noise, and filters the sound signal including the spike noise, the present received frame and the previous received frame complying with an identical radio communication standard.

9. A radio communication apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein said controller comprises at least one of

a first reception error handling unit for detecting an error of sound data in the first radio communication standard signal and performing a process in response to a detection result, and

a second reception error handling unit for detecting an error of sound data in the second radio communication standard signal and performing a process in response to a detection result.

10. A radio communication apparatus according to claim 9, wherein

the detection result of the error of the sound data includes a type and a weight of the error.

11. A radio communication apparatus according to claim 9, wherein

each of the first reception error handling unit and the second reception error handling unit attenuates a sound signal including a synchronization error, and filters the sound signal including the sound error.

12. A radio communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said controller comprises:

(g) an initial receiver proceeding to an initial receiving process of one of the first radio communication standard and the second radio communication standard in response to a discrimination result of said synchronism discriminator;

(h) a first initial receiver proceeding to a synchronism discriminating process in one of cases that there is no error and that there is an error and radio quality data is effective in the initial receiving process of the first radio communication standard; and

(i) a second initial receiver proceeding to the synchronism discriminating process in one of cases that there is no error and that there is an error and radio quality data is effective in the initial receiving process of the second radio communication standard.

13. A radio communication apparatus according to claim 12, wherein

at least one of the first initial receiver and the second initial receiver proceeds to the initial receiving process when there is an error and radio quality data is ineffective.

14. A radio communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said controller comprises at least one of

a first synchronization receiver proceeding to a connecting process in one of cases that there is no error and that there is an error, radio quality data is effective, and there is a connecting request in a synchronization receiving process of the first radio communication standard, and

a second synchronization receiver proceeding to the connecting process in one of cases that there is no error and that there is an error, the radio quality data is effective, and there is a connecting request in a synchronization receiving process of the second radio communication standard.

15. A radio communication apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said controller further comprises at least one of

a first synchronization receiver proceeding to a connecting process in one of cases that there is no error and that there is an error, radio quality data is effective, and there is a connecting request in a synchronization receiving process of the first radio communication standard, and

a second synchronization receiver proceeding to the connecting process in one of cases that there is no error and that there is an error, the radio quality data is effective, and there is a connecting request in a synchronization receiving process of the second radio communication standard,

wherein one of the first and second synchronization receivers proceeds to the initial receiving process when the error continues for a predetermined time.

16. A radio communication apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said controller further comprises at least one of

a first synchronization receiver proceeding to a connecting process in one of cases that there is no error and that there is an error, radio quality data is effective, and there is a connecting request in a synchronization receiving process of the first radio communication standard, and

a second synchronization receiver proceeding to the connecting process in one of cases that there is no error and that there is an error, the radio quality data is effective, and there is a connecting request in a synchronization receiving process of the second radio communication standard,

wherein one of the first and second synchronization receivers proceeds to the synchronism discriminating process when the error occurs within a predetermined time.

17. A radio communication apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said controller further comprises at least one of

a first reception connecting unit proceeding to the initial receiving process after a predetermined time elapses in one of cases that there is no notification of the discrimination result from said synchronism discriminator and that there is a notification of the discrimination result from said synchronism discriminator and a radio communication standard of the received signal is not the first radio communication standard, and

a second reception connecting unit proceeding to the initial receiving process after the predetermined time elapses in one of cases that there is no notification of the discrimination result from said synchronism discriminator and that there is a notification of the discrimination result from said synchronism discriminator and a radio communication standard of the received signal is not the second radio communication standard.

18. A radio communication apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said controller further comprises at least one of

a first reception connecting unit proceeding to the initial receiving process when an elapsed time is within a predetermined time in one of cases that there is no notification of the discrimination result from said synchronism discriminator and that there is a notification of the discrimination result from said synchronism discriminator and a radio communication standard of the received signal is not the first radio communication standard, and

a second reception connecting unit proceeding to the initial receiving process when an elapsed time is within the predetermined time in one of cases that there is no notification of the discrimination result from said synchronism discriminator and that there is a notification of the discrimination result from said synchronism discriminator and a radio communication standard of the received signal is not the second radio communication standard.

19. A radio communication apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein said controller performs one of reception and transmission of a signal of the first radio communication standard and a signal of the second radio communication standard while time-sharing one frame comprising a plurality of slots without overlapping.

20. A radio communication apparatus according to claim 19,

wherein said radio unit, when a synchronizing signal of radio communication of a different kind from radio communication running with a first slot group is determined to be received with a slot in a second slot group, performs the communication connection with the second slot group in radio communication of an identical kind as the present synchronizing signal.

21. A radio communication apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the first radio communication standard is Bluetooth.

22. A radio communication apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the second radio communication standard is a cordless phone standard.

23. A radio communication apparatus according to claim 22,

wherein the cordless phone standard is a TDMA mode.