Electronic device which modifies a boundary of a time zone used to set a current date and time, and method and non-transitory recording medium thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9756463-B2
Application number	US-201514795701-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 9, 2015
Priority date	Jul 18, 2014
Publication date	Sep 5, 2017
Grant date	Sep 5, 2017

Abstract

A timer unit to counts a current date and time, a current position acquisition unit to acquire a current position, a determination unit to determine a time zone in which the acquired current position is included, and a local time acquisition unit to calculate local time corresponding to a time difference of the time zone determined by the determination unit are included. When a boundary line of the time zone is along a coastline, the determination unit changes the boundary line from the coastline to a side of a sea in a predetermined distance range and determines a time zone.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An electronic timepiece comprising:
a counter that counts a current date and time;
a UHF band receiver that receives satellite waves in the UHF band and computes a current position;
a long wavelength band (LF band) receiver that receives an LF band radio signal, the LF band radio signal including date and time information;
a memory that stores (i) a compressed map file containing area information regarding a plurality of divided predetermined sections of the world, and (ii) a frequency data table that stores data regarding frequencies which are receivable by the LF band receiver; and
a processor that is configured to identify a time zone and calculate a local time, based on the current position, to acquire the date and time information from the LF band radio wave received by the LF band receiver, and to adjust the current date and time which is counted by the counter;
wherein the processor is configured to execute a stored program to perform functions comprising:
selecting area information from among the area information contained in the compressed map file, and decompressing the selected area information;
extracting a boundary line for identifying the time zone from the decompressed selected area information;
moving the boundary line by a non-zero interval of a predetermined distance away from land in a direction towards an adjacent sea, and identifying the time zone with the boundary line having been moved, when the boundary line is along a coastline; and
identifying the time zone without moving the boundary line when the boundary line is not along a coastline.

2. The electronic timepiece according to claim 1 , wherein one or more of the predetermined sections, in combination, form an administrative unit, and
wherein the predetermined distance is determined according to a range of a territorial sea of a respective administrative unit to which the coastline belongs, from among a plurality of ranges of territorial seas stored for each administrative unit in the world.

3. The electronic timepiece according to claim 1 , wherein the memory further stores a plurality of data tables for adjusting the current date and time which is counted by the counter based on the current position which is computed by the UHF band receiver, and
wherein the processor is configured to identify the time zone of the current position based on data stored in the data tables and the current position.

4. The electronic timepiece according to claim 2 , wherein the memory further stores a plurality of data tables for adjusting the current date and time which is counted by the counter based on the current position which is computed by the UHF band receiver, and
wherein the processor is configured to identify the time zone of the current position based on data stored in the data tables and the current position.

5. The electronic timepiece according to claim 3 , wherein the memory stores a daylight-saving time utilization data table, and
wherein the processor is configured to calculate the local time so as to include, in a time difference of the identified time zone, a shift based on utilization of daylight-saving time.

6. The electronic timepiece according to claim 4 , wherein the memory stores a daylight-saving time utilization data table, and
wherein the processor is configured to calculate the local time so as to include, in a time difference of the identified time zone, a shift based on utilization of daylight-saving time.

7. The electronic timepiece according to claim 3 , wherein the memory further stores information regarding a plurality of regions, each region including one or more of the predetermined sections, and
wherein the processor selects a specific region from among the plurality of regions based on the current position which is computed by the UHF band receiver, and finds the local time setting information for the specific region.

8. The electronic timepiece according to claim 4 , wherein the memory further stores information regarding a plurality of regions, each region including one or more of the predetermined sections, and
wherein the processor selects a specific region from among the plurality of regions based on the current position which is computed by the UHF band receiver, and finds the local time setting information for the specific region.

9. The electronic timepiece according to claim 5 , wherein the memory further stores information regarding a plurality of regions, each region including one or more of the predetermined sections, and
wherein the processor selects a specific region from among the plurality of regions based on the current position which is computed by the UHF band receiver, and finds the local time setting information for the specific region.

10. The electronic timepiece according to claim 6 , wherein the memory further stores information regarding a plurality of regions, each region including one or more of the predetermined sections, and
wherein the processor selects a specific region from among the plurality of regions based on the current position which is computed by the UHF band receiver, and finds the local time setting information for the specific region.

11. A date and time setting method of an electronic timepiece, the electronic timepiece including a counter that counts a current date and time, a UHF band receiver that receives satellite waves in the UFH band and computes a current position, a long wavelength band (LF band) receiver that receives an LF band radio signal, the LF band radio signal including date and time information, a memory that stores (i) a compressed map file containing area information regarding a plurality of divided predetermined sections of the world and (ii) a frequency data table that stores data regarding frequencies which are receivable by the LF band receiver, and a processor that is configured to acquire the date and time information from the LF band radio wave receiver and to adjust the current date and time which is counted by the counter, and the method comprising steps of:
selecting area information from among the area information contained in the compressed map file;
decompressing the selected area information;
extracting a boundary line from the decompressed selected area information;
moving the boundary line by a non-zero interval of a predetermined distance away from land in a direction towards an adjacent sea, and identifying a time zone based on the current position with the boundary line having been moved, when the boundary line is along a coastline;
identifying the time zone based on the current position without moving the boundary line, when the boundary line is not along a coastline; and
calculating a local time based on the identified time zone.

12. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions executable by a processor communicating with a counter that counts a current date and time, a UHF band receiver that receives satellite waves in the UHF band and computes a current position, a long wavelength band (LF band) receiver that receives an LF band radio signal, the LF band radio signal including date and time information, and a memory that stores (i) a compressed map file containing area information regarding a plurality of divided predetermined sections of the world and (ii) a frequency data table that stores data regarding frequencies which are receivable by the LF band receiver, the processor being configured to acquire the date and time information from the LF band radio wave received by the LF band receiver, and to adjust the current date and time which is counted by the counter, and said instructions being executable to

Assignees

• Casio Computer Co Ltd

Inventors

• Sambongi Masao
• Watanuki Masatoshi

Classifications

• G04R20/06

  Decoding time data; Circuits therefor · CPC title

• H04W4/021 Primary

  Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences · CPC title

• H04L7/0008

  Synchronisation information channels, e.g. clock distribution lines · CPC title

• G04R20/08

  the radio signal being broadcast from a long-wave call sign, e.g. DCF77, JJY40, JJY60, MSF60 or WWVB · CPC title