Radio communication apparatus for communicating with a plurality of different communication systems

Claim 2

A radio communication apparatus which can cope with a plurality of different communication systems, comprising: a plurality of radio communication means for performing communications through the plurality of different communication systems, said plurality of radio communication means at least comprising a personal handy phone system (PHS) and at least one other radio communication means; and selecting means for selecting one of said plurality of radio communication means, wherein said selecting means selects one of said plurality of radio communication means on the basis of communication channel qualities in said plurality of radio communication means, said selecting means determining the communication channel qualities through a priority-sequenced evaluation of a plurality of different signal parameters, said selecting means comprising a comparing means for comparing a first of said plurality of different signal parameters for each of said plurality of radio communication means to a first reference level, wherein when the first of said plurality of different signal parameters for at least two of said plurality of radio communication means is greater than the first reference level, said comparing means further compares a second of said plurality of different signal parameters for said at least two of said plurality of radio communication means to a second reference level.

Claim 3

An apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said comparing means for comparing the communication channel qualities, compares each of said plurality of different signal parameters to a respective minimum value.

Claim 4

An apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said comparing means compares reception signal electric field strengths in said plurality of radio communication means.

Claim 5

An apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said comparing means compares reception data quality signals in said plurality of radio communication means.

Claim 6

An apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said comparing means compares reception data error rates in said plurality of radio communication means.

Claim 7

An apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of different signal parameters comprise reception signal electric field strengths, reception data quality signals, and reception data error rates.

Claim 8

An apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said at least one other radio communication means is at least one of a cellular telephone system, a cordless telephone system, a car telephone system, a two-way pager system, and a radio data communication system.

Claim 9

A radio communication apparatus which can cope with a plurality of different communication systems, comprising: a plurality of receiving means for receiving signals from base stations in the plurality of different communication systems, said plurality of receiving means comprising a personal handy phone system (PHS); a plurality of demodulating means for demodulating the signals received by said receiving means; a plurality of decoding means for decoding the signals demodulated by said demodulating means; means for comparing channel qualities in the plurality of communication systems on the basis of output signals from said receiving means, said demodulating means, and said decoding means, said comparing means determining a comparison result by one of a first comparison of a first channel quality signal of each of said plurality of communication systems to a first reference value, followed by at least a second comparison of a second channel quality signal to a second reference value for each of the communication systems of those of said plurality of communication systems having respective first channel quality signals greater than the first reference value, and a comparison of the first channel quality signal of each of said plurality of communication systems to each other to determine a single communication system having a largest value, wherein when at least two of said plurality of communication systems have the largest value, an further comparison of the second channel quality signal of each of said at least two of said plurality of communication systems; and selecting means for selecting a communication system exhibiting good channel quality from the plurality of different communication systems on the basis of the comparison result from said comparing means.

Claim 10

A radio communication apparatus which can cope with a plurality of different communication systems, comprising: a plurality of receiving means for receiving signals from base stations in the plurality of different communication systems, said plurality of receiving means comprising a personal handy phone system (PHS); a plurality of demodulating means for demodulating the signals received by said receiving means; a plurality of decoding means for decoding the signals demodulated by said demodulating means; means for comparing channel qualities in the plurality of communication systems on the basis of output signals from said receiving means, said demodulating means, and said decoding means, said comparing means determining a comparison result by one of a first comparison of a first channel quality signal of each of said plurality of communication systems to a first reference value, followed by at least a second comparison of a second channel quality signal to a second reference value for each of the communication systems of those of said plurality of communication systems having respective first channel quality signals greater than the first reference value, and a comparison of the first channel quality signal of each of said plurality of communication systems to each other to determine a single communication system having a largest value, wherein when at least two of said plurality of communication systems have the largest value, an further comparison of the second channel quality signal of each of said at least two of said plurality of communication systems; and selecting means for selecting a communication system exhibiting good channel quality from the plurality of different communication systems on the basis of the comparison result from said comparing means.

Claim 11

A radio communication apparatus which can cope with a plurality of different communication systems, comprising: a plurality of radio communication means for performing communications through the plurality of different communication systems, said plurality of radio communication means comprising at least two of a personal handy phone system, a cellular telephone system, a cordless telephone system, a car telephone system, a two-way pager system, and a radio data communication system; and selecting means for selecting one of said plurality of radio communication means, said selecting means selecting one of said plurality of radio communication means on the basis of the communication channel qualities in said plurality of radio communication means, said selecting means comprising a comparison section for comparing the communication channel qualities of said plurality of radio communication means and determining a first, second, and third comparison result based on an evaluation of a respective first, second, and third quality parameter, said selecting means for selecting a preferred one of said plurality of radio communication means on the basis of at least one of the first, second, and third comparison results obtained by said comparison section, said comparison section comprising i) a reception signal electric field strength comparing section arranged to compare reception signal electric field strengths from each of said plurality of radio communication means, ii) a reception data quality signal comparing section arranged to compare reception data quality signals from each of said plurality of radio communication means, and iii) a reception data error rate comparing section arranged to compare reception data error rates from each of said plurality of radio communication means, said selecting means selecting the preferred one of said plurality of radio communication means based on the first comparison result, wherein when at least two of said plurality of radio communication means have an equal first quality value, said selecting means uses the second comparison result to select the preferred one of said plurality of radio communication means and when at least two of said plurality of radio communication means have an equal second quality value, said selecting means uses the comparison result to select the preferred one of said plurality of radio communication means.

Claim 12

A radio communication apparatus which can cope with a plurality of different communication systems, comprising: a plurality of radio communication means for performing communications through the plurality of different communication systems, said plurality of radio communication means comprising at least two of a personal handy phone system, a cellular telephone system, a cordless telephone system, a car telephone system, a two-way pager system, and a radio data communication system; and selecting means for selecting one of said plurality of radio communication means, said selecting means selecting one of said plurality of radio communication means on the basis of the communication channel qualities in said plurality of radio communication means, said selecting means comprising a comparison section for comparing the communication channel qualities of said plurality of radio communication means and determining a first, second, and third comparison result based on an evaluation of a respective first, second, and third quality parameter, said selecting means for selecting a preferred one of said plurality of radio communication means on the basis of at least one of the first, second, and third comparison results obtained by said comparison section, said comparison section comprising i) a reception signal electric field strength comparing section arranged to compare reception signal electric field strengths from each of said plurality of radio communication means, ii) a reception data quality signal comparing section arranged to compare reception data quality signals from each of said plurality of radio communication means, and iii) a reception data error rate comparing section arranged to compare reception data error rates from each of said plurality of radio communication means, said selecting means selecting the preferred one of said plurality of radio communication means based on the first comparison result, wherein when at least two of said plurality of radio communication means have an equal first quality value, said selecting means uses the second comparison result to select the preferred one of said plurality of radio communication means and when at least two of said plurality of radio communication means have an equal second quality value, said selecting means uses the comparison result to select the preferred one of said plurality of radio communication means.

Claim 13

The radio communication apparatus of claim 9 , wherein said selecting means further comprises weighting means for assigning relative priorities to each of said reception signal electric field strength comparing section, said reception data quality signal comparing section, and said reception data error rate comparing section.

Claim 14

The radio communication device of claim 9 , wherein said reception data quality signal comparing section comprises an input connected to an output of a demodulation section of each of said plurality of radio communication means, each said input accepting a reception data quality signal from an associated one of said demodulation sections, the reception data quality signal indicating the difference between an analog value to be converted and an expected value in an analog to digital conversion of an intermediate frequency into a reception data string by said associated one of said demodulation sections.

Claim 15

The radio communication device of claim 11 , wherein the analog value to be converted is one of an amplitude, a phase, and a frequency parameter representing a data signal according to a modulation scheme associated with the data signal.