INFORMATION COMMUNICATION METHOD

• US 20160005309A1
• Filed: 12/26/2014
• Published: 01/07/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 07/01/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Corporation of America (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Corporation of America (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: AOYAMA, HIDEKI, OSHIMA, MITSUAKI
• Granted Patent: US 9,443,423 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 23/04 using light waves, e.g. infrared
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/116 Visible light communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/60 Receivers

Abstract

An information communication method for use in a portable terminal, e.g., a wristwatch, to obtain information includes a light receiving step of, by at least one of plural solar cells incorporated in the portable terminal and having respective directivities, receiving visible light that is emitted in a direction corresponding to the directivity of the relevant solar cell, and an information acquisition step of obtaining information by demodulating a signal that is specified by the received visible light.

Claims

1. An information communication method for use in a portable terminal to obtain information, the information communication method comprising:

a light receiving step of, by at least one of plural solar cells incorporated in the portable terminal and having different directivities from one another, receiving visible light that is emitted in a direction corresponding to the directivity of the relevant solar cell; and

an information acquisition step of obtaining information by demodulating a signal that is specified by the received visible light.

2. The information communication method according to claim 1, wherein, in the light receiving step, the relevant solar cell receives the visible light having passed through a prism that is included in the portable terminal.

3. The information communication method according to claim 2, wherein the portable terminal is a wristwatch, the plural solar cells are arranged along a circumferential edge of a dial plate of the wristwatch, and directions of the visible lights received by the plural solar cells are different from one another.

4. The information communication method according to claim 3, further comprising:

a wireless communication step of, by the portable terminal, transmitting a control signal to a lighting apparatus via wireless communication that is different from visible light communication;

a visible light communication step of, by the lighting apparatus, performing the visible light communication by changing luminance in accordance with the control signal; and

an execution step of, by a control object appliance, detecting a luminance change of the lighting apparatus, demodulating a signal that is specified by the detected luminance change, to thereby obtain the control signal, and executing a process in accordance with the control signal.

5. A portable terminal that obtains information, the portable terminal comprising:

a plurality of solar cells having respective directivities; and

an information acquisition unit of, when at least one of the plural solar cells receives visible light that is emitted in a direction corresponding to the directivity of the relevant solar cell, obtaining information by demodulating a signal that is specified by the received visible light.