Cradle, receiving terminal and receiving method

Abstract

When a portable receiving terminal is mounted on a cradle in an automobile, the satellite broadcasted contents is received by use of external antennas connected to the cradle, in place of built-in antennas contained in the portable receiving terminal. Accordingly, by use of the portable receiving terminal of the present invention, the satellite broadcasted contents can be surely received even in an automobile. Furthermore, the received information outputted from the portable receiving terminal can be transmitted to external devices such as car navigation system and the like when being mounted on the automobile. Accordingly, by taking advantages of a car navigation system, a car television and a car stereo mounted on the automobile, the information received by the portable receiving terminal can be displayed in a very lively manner.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a technology relating to S-band satellite digital broadcasting that is distributed by making use of a geostationary satellite SAT launched into a geostationary orbit, for instance, over the equator, and more specifically to a cradle, a receiving terminal and a receiving method for receiving broadcasting by bringing a portable receiving terminal in, for instance, an automobile. [0003] 2. Description of the Related Art [0004] Japanese Patent Application publication No. 10-308695 is a document that discloses a system for implementing S-band satellite broadcasting. According to the publication, a receiving terminal to be used in S-band satellite digital broadcasting receives an S-band signal that is transmitted from a geostationary satellite and further relayed through reproducing type relays (gap-fillers; hereinafter simply referred to as GFs) disposed on the earth (in particular on the...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0011] According to the present invention, since an external antenna is used to receive a carrier wave such as satellite broadcasting in place of a built-in antenna disposed in the receiving terminal, the carrier wave such as satellite broadcasting can be assuredly received even, for instance, inside an automobile. For instance, in a case of an area outside of an area where the S-band signal can be received through, for instance, a reproducing relay (i.e. outside of the GF area), a direct wave from the satellite need to be received. In other words, a radio wave state is very bad. When the receiving terminal is brought in an automobile outside of such GF area and used stand-alone, the built-in antenna cannot excellently receive the radio wave being disturbed by the metal and the like of the automobile. In contrast, in the present invention, since the satellite broadcasting can be received by use of an external antenna disposed outside of, for instance, an automobile, even a direct wave from the satellite can excellently be received. Furthermore, in the present invention, a received signal outputted from the receiving terminal can be transmitted to an external device mounted on an automobile for example, therefore, by making use of the external devices such as a car navigation system, a car television, a car stereo and the like mounted on the automobile, the received images received through the receiving terminal can be presented in a very lively manner. That is, in the case of the receiving terminal being a portable type, often a case is that a display portion is smaller in size and poorer in the definition, alternatively the acoustic performance is poorer compared with the external devices mounted on an automobile. In the present invention, by making use of a display portion and the like of the external devices excellent in these performances, received information can be presented in a very lively manner.

[0012] According to the present invention, the receiving terminal may be comprised of means for causing the receiving terminal to shift from a first mode to a second mode when the receiving terminal is mounted on the mounting portion, the first mode being for providing the user with the received signal by using the reproduced signal providing means, the second mode being having the reproduced signal be capable of being output from the second output terminal. Thereby, when a receiving terminal is mounted on a mounting portion, a mode is switched so that a reproduced signal from a receiving terminal may be outputted to an external device. For this reason, the operability is improved.

[0019] According to the present invention, means for causing the receiving terminal to shift from a first mode to a second mode according to a state of a trigger signal from trigger signal output means, the first mode being for providing the user with the received signal by using the reproduced signal providing means, the second mode being having the reproduced signal be capable of being output from the second output terminal. Thereby, the received signal can be externally output with excellent operability.

Problems solved by technology

However, in an area outside of the GF area where directs wave from a satellite is received, the built-in antenna of the portable receiving terminal used in a vehicle becomes incapable of receiving the S-band signals because the electromagnetic waves is being cutoff by a roof of the vehicle (generally made of metal).

However, in a case that the portable receiving terminal is being brought into a vehicle as it is and used, one cannot cope with these demands.

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