JP2007188289A - Multitask processing terminal device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a multitask processing terminal technique allowing a terminal user to reflect easily an intention thereof to the priority. <P>SOLUTION: A multitask processing part 13 multitask-processes a program executed in a main control part 15, according to the priority set in a priority setting part 14. A display setting part 18 sets display setting in response to an operation from the terminal user received by an operation part 12. The display setting includes, for example, a display order, a display size and a display state (displayed/nondisplayed) of a user interface. The priority setting part 14 sets the priority in response to a content of the display setting set in the display setting part 18. The priority setting part 14 sets, for example, the higher priority in accordance with the prior display order. An image processing part 17 analyzes a display set content and a priority set content, and processes the image in response to an analytical result therein, and a display part 20 displays the image processed in the image processing part 17. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a multitask processing terminal device, and more particularly to a multitask processing terminal device such as a mobile phone, a personal computer, and a PDA (Personal Digital Assistants).

  In recent years, multi-task processing technology for processing a plurality of tasks in parallel is also used in terminal devices (including mobile phones, personal computers, PDA (Personal Digital Assistants), and the like). In general, multitask processing is realized by dividing the processing time of a CPU (central processing unit) into minimum times and repeatedly assigning them to each task. The order of processing and the ratio of allocated time are determined by priority. When the priority is not set or when the priorities are equal, generally, the processing is performed in the order of execution, and the processing time is also equally divided.

  In general, the priority is constant by default, and changes when specified by the user or the program itself (see Patent Document 1).

In the case of the same priority, the processing is basically performed in the execution order of the programs, and the CPUs perform processing for the same ratio.
JP 2002-49497 A

  The method of setting the priority by the terminal user needs to be set while the terminal user grasps the priority of each task, and thus it is not easy to appropriately reflect the intention of the terminal user. In the data processing technique described in Patent Document 1, the priority is automatically determined according to the status of the input / output system, but if this technique is used, there is no relation to the intention of the terminal user. There was a problem that the priority was decided.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a multitask processing terminal technology that allows a terminal user to easily reflect the intention in the priority. is there.

  In order to solve the above problems, the terminal device of the present invention has multitasking priority set for each of a plurality of tasks, and performs processing of each task according to the set priority And display setting changing means for changing the display setting for the user interface associated with each task, and priority changing means for changing the priority according to the display setting.

  That is, according to one aspect of the present invention, a multitask processing terminal device capable of executing a plurality of tasks, the display unit and a method of displaying a user interface corresponding to each task displayed on the display unit A display setting unit for setting display settings related to, a priority setting unit for setting the priority of processing corresponding to the plurality of tasks for each task in association with the contents of the display settings set in the display setting unit, Multitask processing means for processing each task of the plurality of tasks in order of priority according to the priority determined based on the content of the display setting and the content of the set priority setting; A multitask processing terminal device is provided.

  The display setting unit may include setting display according to an operation from the operation unit, including a display order of the user interface, and display / non-display of the user interface.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the said terminal device displays the user interface according to a priority. Moreover, it is preferable to have a display setting content changing unit for changing the content of the display setting set in the display setting unit. The display setting content changing means can change the display setting content by changing how the user interface is displayed on the display unit.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a multitask processing terminal device capable of executing a plurality of tasks, the display unit and a method for displaying a user interface corresponding to each task displayed on the display unit. A display setting unit for setting display settings, a priority setting unit for setting the priority of corresponding processing for the plurality of tasks for each task, in association with the contents of the display settings set in the display setting unit; Multi-task processing for distributing processing capacity for processing of each of the plurality of tasks according to a priority obtained based on the content of display setting and the content of the set priority setting A terminal device is provided.

  The user's will can be reflected by adjusting the distribution of resources such as memory and CPU according to the priority.

  According to the present invention, since the priority is changed according to the change in the display setting of the user interface associated with each task, the priority can be changed with a simple operation.

  In addition, since the display setting includes the display order of the user interface, it is possible to easily reflect the intention of the terminal user.

  In addition, since the display setting includes display / non-display of the user interface, it is possible to easily reflect the intention of the terminal user.

  Further, since the terminal device displays the user interface according to the priority, there is an advantage that the terminal user can easily grasp the priority setting state visually.

  The multitask processing terminal technology according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, the multitask terminal technology according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a hardware configuration example of a PDA shown as an example of a multitask processing terminal device according to this embodiment. The PDA (terminal device) includes a non-volatile memory 11 in which a program and the like are stored, an operation unit 12 that receives an operation from a terminal user, a multitask processing unit 13, and a priority for setting a priority in multitask processing. A setting unit 14, a main control unit 15 that controls the entire terminal device, a volatile memory 16 that temporarily stores operation instructions from the terminal user, an image processing unit 17, and a display from the terminal user A display setting unit 18 that changes display settings in response to a setting change operation, a display unit 20, and a display driver 19 that controls display on the display unit 20 are included. The main control unit 15 is configured by a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or the like, and performs overall control of the terminal device by executing a program stored in the nonvolatile memory 11 or the like.

  The multitask processing unit 13 performs multitask processing on the program executed in the main control unit 15 according to the priority set in the priority setting unit 14. The display setting unit 18 sets display settings according to the operation from the terminal user received from the operation unit 12. The display settings are, for example, the display order, display size, and display state (display / non-display) of the user interface.

  The priority setting unit 14 sets priorities according to the contents of the display settings set by the display setting unit 18. For example, the priority is set higher as the display order is first. In another example, the priority is set to be higher as the display size is larger. In yet another example, the program related to the user interface displayed on the display unit 20 is set to have a higher priority than the program related to the non-displayed user interface.

  When the priority changes, the image processing unit 17 changes the display setting in accordance with the change (for example, addition of a new task or change of priority due to program confidence). The display unit 20 displays the image processed by the image processing unit 17.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a program priority changing operation in the multitask processing terminal device according to the present embodiment. A user interface (window) 22 corresponding to the program A and a user interface (window) 23 corresponding to the program B different from the program A are displayed on the display screen 21 of the multitask processing terminal device. When the user interface 22 is displayed above the user interface 23, the terminal user operates the display order, so that the user interface 23 is displayed above the user interface 22 as indicated by a white arrow. Can be.

  The display order changing operation can be performed, for example, by clicking on the user interface that the user wants to bring up with the mouse pointer. As another example, it is possible to directly touch the interface on the screen with a pen or a finger. In yet another example, the priority of the user interface being selected is switched by operating a button of the multitask processing terminal device, and the button is pressed automatically or after selection after the priority selection operation. As a result, the user interface 23 corresponding to the program B can be set higher. In yet another example, a program list may be displayed on the display screen 21 and set to a higher rank by selecting a program from the list.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the priority by the change operation in FIG. In FIG. 3, it is defined that the priority is higher as the value is smaller and the processing is preferentially performed. In addition, it is assumed that a program with a higher display order has a higher priority. As shown in FIG. 3, the priority of program B becomes higher than that of program A as shown by the white arrow in the program A, which has higher priority than program B, as shown by the white arrow. Note that the program A and the program B may be programs processed by different multitask processing terminal devices. In this case, the priority is changed to the multitask processing terminal device that is actually processing. It is preferable to notify using the communication means which a terminal device has.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of the processing procedure of the multitask processing terminal apparatus according to this embodiment. The description will be made with reference to FIG. First, the display setting unit 18 changes the display setting of the user interface in accordance with an operation from the terminal user by the operation unit 12 (step S11). Next, the priority setting unit 14 changes the priority of the program according to the contents of the display setting set by the display setting unit 18 (step S12).

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing in more detail an example of the processing procedure of the multitask processing terminal apparatus according to the present embodiment. The same processing steps as those in the flowchart shown in FIG. 4 are denoted by the same step numbers, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  In step S11, the display setting of the user interface in the multitask processing terminal device is changed according to the operation performed by the terminal user. The priority setting unit 14 determines whether or not the content set in step S11 is a change in display order. If the display order has been changed (Yes in step S21), the priority is changed (step S12). . If the display order is not changed (No in step S21), the priority is not changed.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing another example of the program priority changing operation in the multitask processing terminal device according to the first embodiment. A user interface 62 corresponding to the program A and a user interface 63 corresponding to the program B are displayed on the display screen 61 of the multitask processing terminal device. In a state where both the interface 62 and the interface 63 are displayed, when the terminal user performs a display / non-display change operation of the user interface 62, the user interface 62 is hidden. In this example, an icon indicating the presence of the user interface 62 is displayed at the corner of the screen even in the non-display state, but it may be completely removed from the screen.

  The display / non-display change method is performed, for example, by changing an option of the user interface. For example, an operation such as selecting Minimize from the option menu that appears when the upper bar of the user interface is left-clicked is performed.

  In another example, a non-display button associated with the user interface is clicked with a mouse, or a non-display button on the screen is touched with a pen.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing how priority is changed by the changing operation in FIG. As shown in the above figure, both the program A and the program B have the same priority because the corresponding user interfaces are displayed, but the program based on the operation based on the display / non-display change operation shown in FIG. The lower diagram shows how B has a higher priority than program A.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing another example of the processing procedure in the multitask processing terminal apparatus according to the present embodiment. The same processing steps as those in the flowchart shown in FIG. 4 are denoted by the same step numbers, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  In step S11, the display setting of the user interface is changed in the multitask processing terminal device in accordance with the operation performed by the terminal user. The priority setting unit 14 determines whether or not the content set in step S11 is a display / non-display change. If the display / non-display is changed (Yes in step S31), the priority is changed. (Step S12). If it is not a display / non-display change (No in step S31), the priority is not changed.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining still another example of a program priority changing operation in the multitask processing terminal device according to the present embodiment. A user interface 92 corresponding to the program A and a user interface 93 corresponding to the program B are displayed on the display screen 91 of the multitask processing terminal device. In the upper figure, the display size of the user interface 92 is larger than that of the user interface 93. However, when the terminal user changes the display size of the user interface 92, the display size of the user interface 92 is changed to the user in the lower figure. It becomes the same as the interface 93.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining how priority is changed by the changing operation in FIG. 9. Here, it is assumed that the display size ratio in FIG. 9 is changed from user interface 92: user interface 93 = 4: 1 to 1: 1. In this example, the ratio of the display size is directly reflected in the priority, and the priority is higher as the display size is larger. Initially, the priority of the program A corresponding to the user interface 92 corresponds to 1, and the priority of the program B corresponding to the user interface 93 corresponds to 4 (upper figure). Thus, since the display sizes are the same, the priority is set to the same 1 for both the program A and the program B (the lower figure). In the example of FIG. 10, the display size ratio is reflected in the priority. However, the ranking may be performed in consideration of only the size comparison regardless of the display size ratio, and the rank may be reflected in the priority. In this case, the priority before the display size change by the terminal user is 1 for program A and 2 for program B.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing yet another example of the processing procedure in the multitask processing terminal apparatus according to the present embodiment. When the terminal user changes the display setting or when the priority is changed such as addition / deletion of a program, the image processing unit 17 analyzes the display setting content of the user interface (step S41), and further, the priority. (Step S42), and the display unit 20 performs screen display according to the analysis result (step S43).

  As described above, the multitask processing terminal device according to the present embodiment has a configuration in which the priority is changed according to the change in the display setting of the user interface associated with each task. There is an advantage that the priority can be changed with a simple operation. In addition, since the display setting includes the display order of the user interface, it is possible to easily reflect the intention of the terminal user. Furthermore, since the display setting includes display / non-display setting of the user interface, it is possible to easily reflect the intention of the terminal user. Further, since the terminal device is controlled to display the user interface according to the priority, there is an advantage that the terminal user can easily grasp the priority setting state visually and the usability is improved. In the above example, the case where there are two tasks has been described. However, even when there are three or more tasks, the processing order can be set similarly.

  Next, a multitask processing terminal device according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the first embodiment, the processing capacity for processing each task among a plurality of tasks is distributed according to the priority obtained based on the contents of the display settings and the contents of the set priority settings. It is characterized by that. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a state of resource allocation change processing based on a user interface display order change operation by a terminal user according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 12, when the area ratio of program A 103, program B 105, and program C 107 is set to 55:30:15 on the display screen 101, the area ratio is set as shown in FIG. It can be seen that resource allocation is performed along this line.

  With this configuration, the user's intention can be reflected by adjusting the distribution of resources such as the memory and CPU according to the priority.

It is a block diagram which shows the hardware constitutions of PDA which is an example of the terminal device in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the change operation of the display order of a user interface by a terminal user. It is a figure for demonstrating the change of the priority by the change of a display order. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the process sequence of the terminal device in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart for demonstrating in detail the processing procedure by a display order among the processing procedures of the terminal device in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the change operation of the display / non-display of a user interface by a terminal user. It is a figure for demonstrating the change of the priority by the change of a display / non-display. It is a flowchart for demonstrating in detail the processing procedure by display / non-display among the processing procedures of the terminal device in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the change operation of the display size of a user interface by a terminal user. It is a figure for demonstrating the change of the priority by the change of a display size. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the screen process according to a priority among the processing procedures of the terminal device in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the mode of the resource distribution based on the change operation of the display order of the user interface by the terminal user by the 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Nonvolatile memory, 12 Operation part, 13 Multitask processing part, 14 Priority setting part, 15 Main control part, 16 Volatile memory, 17 Image processing part, 18 Display setting part, 19 Display driver, 20 Display part, 21 Display screen, 22, 23 User interface, 61 Display screen, 62, 63 User interface, 91 Display screen, 92, 93 User interface

Claims (8)

A multitask processing terminal device capable of executing a plurality of tasks,
A display unit;
A display setting unit for setting display settings relating to how to display a user interface corresponding to each task displayed on the display unit;
A priority setting unit that sets the priority of processing corresponding to the plurality of tasks for each task in association with the content of the display setting set in the display setting unit;
Multitask processing means for performing processing of each task of the plurality of tasks in order of priority according to the priority obtained based on the content of the display setting and the content of the set priority setting. A multitask processing terminal device comprising:   The multitask processing terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the display setting unit performs display setting according to an operation from an operation unit.   The multi-task processing terminal apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display setting includes a display order of a user interface.   The multi-task processing terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the display setting includes display / non-display of a user interface.   The multi-task processing terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the terminal device displays a user interface according to priority.   The multitask processing terminal according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising a display setting content changing unit for changing the content of the display setting set in the display setting unit. apparatus.   The multitask processing terminal device according to claim 6, wherein the display setting content changing unit changes the display setting content by changing how the user interface is displayed on the display unit. A multitask processing terminal device capable of executing a plurality of tasks,
A display unit;
A display setting unit for setting display settings relating to how to display a user interface corresponding to each task displayed on the display unit;
A priority setting unit that sets the priority of processing corresponding to the plurality of tasks for each task in association with the content of the display setting set in the display setting unit;
Multi-task distribution of processing capacity for processing of each of the plurality of tasks according to a priority determined based on the content of the display setting and the content of the set priority setting Processing terminal device.

Images