KR100761126B1 - Method for controlling background application, and mobile communication terminal for processing the same - Google Patents

Abstract

A method for controlling background applications and a mobile terminal for executing the same are provided to group background applications into desired categories so that a user can easily confirm applications currently executed when the user executes various applications in a mobile terminal. A mobile terminal executes one or more background applications, which are executed in a multitasking method(S210). The mobile terminal displays icons to indicate that the background applications are being executed(S220). The mobile terminal confirms whether transfer to another background application is required(S230). If so, the mobile terminal classifies one or more background applications into groups according to categories and displays them(S240). The user selects one of the classified groups(S250). If the user selects a desired one among the background applications of the selected group(S260), the mobile terminal executes the selected background application(S270).

Description

Background application and mobile communication terminal for performing the same {Method for controlling background application, and mobile communication terminal for processing the same}

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a mobile communication terminal capable of executing a background application according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a method of controlling a background application of a mobile communication terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a detailed operation of a method for controlling a background application of a mobile communication terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of controlling a background application of a mobile communication terminal according to another embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a diagram illustrating a grouping of a list of running applications according to an embodiment of the present invention by category.

6 is a diagram illustrating executing a selected application among grouped applications according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

7A and 7E are diagrams illustrating a mobile communication terminal to which a background application control method according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied, respectively.

<Explanation of symbols on main parts of the drawings>

110: control unit 120: input unit

130: terminal portion 140: audio processing portion

150: transceiver 160: display

170: memory unit 180: background application

The present invention relates to a method for controlling a background application and a mobile communication terminal for performing the same.

Mobile communication terminals have evolved into multi-purpose devices that provide a variety of new and diverse applications and functions, in addition to functions as the original voice transmission means. These various additional functions include MPEG Audio Layer-3 (MP3) playback, Short Message Service (SMS) messages, Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) messages, game functions, and idle screens.

According to the prior art, when there is an application running in the background, it is displayed in the display area using a task manager, for example. Specifically, a unique icon of each application is displayed in the display area of the idle screen, or, if there is no unique icon, a representative application icon is displayed in the display area. For example, the upper window of the idle screen displays that a background application is currently running.

However, according to the related art, when at least one background application is running, there is a problem in that the user cannot directly move to and execute the desired application on the idle screen.

An object of the present invention is to provide a background application control method capable of grouping and displaying a background application by a category desired by a user and a mobile communication terminal for performing the same.

Another technical problem to be achieved by the present invention is to provide a background application control method for allowing a user to move directly to a desired application on an idle screen and to execute it, and a mobile communication terminal for performing the same.

Another technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a background application control method for allowing a user to directly move to a desired application from an idle screen and to remove at least one or more currently running background applications, and a mobile communication terminal for performing the same. It is for.

Technical problems to be achieved by the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned technical problems, and other technical problems not mentioned above may be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description. There will be.

As a means for achieving the above technical problem, a method for controlling a background application of a mobile communication terminal according to the present invention, comprising: displaying on the screen that at least one background application is running; Determining whether to switch the background application; Grouping and displaying the at least one background application by category; And selecting and executing a desired background application from the grouped background applications.

Here, the category may be selected and grouped among a game program, a wireless Internet access program, a graphic program, a utility program, a music program, a short message service (SMS) message, a multimedia messaging service (MMS) message, and an e-mail. do.

The executing of the application may include selecting one group from among the group by category; Selecting a background application to be executed from the selected group; And executing the selected background application.

The determining of whether to switch the background application may be determined according to an application shortcut input method of the user.

In this case, applications whose category is not designated among the applications may be included in a default group.

On the other hand, as another means for achieving the above technical problem, a background application control method of a mobile communication terminal according to the present invention, the step of displaying at least one background application is running on the screen; Determining a selection change of the background application; Grouping and displaying the at least one background application by category; And selecting and removing at least one background application from the grouped background applications.

The removing of the application may include selecting one group from among the category-specific groups; Selecting at least one background application to remove from the selected group; And removing the selected at least one background application.

On the other hand, as another means for achieving the above technical problem, a mobile communication terminal for controlling a background application according to the present invention, at least one background application running on the background of a mobile communication terminal that supports multitasking; An input unit for inputting a key for selecting or switching the background application; A controller for controlling the background applications to be displayed by grouping the categories according to the key input and controlling the execution or removal of the background applications; And a display unit configured to display a background application grouped by the category according to the key input and the control of the controller.

The control unit may be grouped by category among a game program, a wireless Internet access program, a graphic program, a utility program, a music program, an SMS message, an MMS message, and an E-mail.

Hereinafter, a background application control method and a mobile communication terminal for performing the same according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a mobile communication terminal capable of executing a background application according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the mobile communication terminal 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a control unit 110, an input unit 120, a terminal unit 130, an audio processing unit 140, a transmission / reception unit 150, and a display unit ( 160, a memory unit 170, and a background application 180.

First, at least one background application 180 is executed on the background of the mobile communication terminal 100 that supports multitasking. The background application 180 may be at least one of a game program, a wireless Internet access program, a graphic program, a utility program, a music program, a Short Message Service (SMS) message, a Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) message, and an E-mail. have. In an embodiment of the present invention, the background application 180 may be displayed by grouping each category by a user's selection.

Input unit 120 is a numeric button (0 ~ 9), a special key button (*, #, ...) used as an input in the mobile communication terminal 100, a letter key button engraved with Korean alphabet or alphabet, direction It consists of a direction key button to display, and serves as an interface for transmitting a user's instructions to the control unit 110. Therefore, not only a keypad but also a touch method is possible, and the keypad, the jog dial, the touch screen, and the joystick may be implemented. In an embodiment of the present invention, the input unit 120 may input a key for selecting or switching the background application 180.

In other words, the input unit 120 generates key data corresponding to the pressed key button when the user presses a predetermined key button and transmits the generated key data to the control unit 110. In particular, the input unit 120 is input by an application shortcut key input method of the user. In this case, the application shortcut key may switch the currently running application to another application. The application shortcut key may be selected from a long key input and a short key. For example, the application shortcut key may enter a corresponding application using a long key function among the application shortcut keys.

The controller 110 controls various functions implemented in the mobile communication terminal 100 and processes data and various signals input and output to and from other components. Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention, the controller 110 controls the background application 180 to be displayed by grouping the categories according to the key input of the input unit 120, and executes or removes the background application 180. To control.

In detail, the controller 110 may include a category among a game program, a wireless Internet access program, a graphic program, a utility program, a music program, a short message service (SMS) message, a multimedia messaging service (MMS) message, and an e-mail. Will be grouped by star. In addition, the controller 110 may include the applications in which the category is not specified in the default group. In this case, the default group may be added by the user. In addition, the controller 110 may include at least one background application in a category desired by the user.

The display unit 160 is a display device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic light emitting diode (OLED), a touch screen, and the like. The mobile communication terminal 100 is controlled by the controller 110. ) Displays the menu screen selected by the user and the execution screen or result screen accordingly. In an embodiment of the present invention, the display 160 displays a background application grouped by the category according to the key input and the control of the controller 110.

The memory unit 170 includes a storage device such as a flash memory, a RAM, an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), and an operating system (OS), software, and program for operating the mobile communication terminal 100. , Games and so on. In other words, the memory unit 170 may include a program memory and a data memory. Here, programs for controlling the general operation of the mobile communication terminal 100 are stored in the program memory. In an embodiment of the present invention, the memory unit 150 stores various programs for multitasking. In this case, the background application 180 may be implemented in a separate hardware or may be implemented in a program format stored in the memory 170.

The terminal unit 130 is a terminal for connecting an external device, and may connect a joystick, a mouse, and the like for moving the screen displayed on the display unit 160.

Transceiver 150 is for performing a communication function of the mobile communication terminal 100, an RF transmitter for up-converting and amplifying a frequency of a transmitted signal, and an RF receiver for low-noise amplifying and down-converting a received signal. And the like.

In addition to the above-described components, the mobile communication terminal 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention includes an audio processor 140 connected to a speaker and a microphone so as to process a ring tone or voice information, and a camera module (not shown). ) May be included.

In addition, the mobile communication terminal 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention is a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), cellular phone, PCS (Personal Communication Service) phone, GSM (Global System for Mobile) phone, W-CDMA (Wideband CDMA) It may include a phone, a CDMA-2000 phone, and a Mobile Broadband System (MBS) phone.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a method of controlling a background application of a mobile communication terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2, a background application control method of a mobile communication terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention relates to a background application execution method.

First, at least one background application executed by a multitasking method is executed (S210). Here, the background application may be a game program, a wireless Internet access program, a graphic program, a utility program, a music program, a Short Message Service (SMS) message, a Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) message, and an E-mail.

 A mark indicating that the background application is running is displayed on the screen (S220). In this case, the mark may use a Java common icon as a default icon of an idle screen. In addition, an application representative icon or an individual application icon may be displayed on the idle screen, and if the default icon of the idle screen is changed by the user, the corresponding application icon may replace the representative application icon.

Next, it is determined whether to switch the background application (S230).

Whether or not to switch the background application may be determined according to a user's button input. In this case, the user inputs a button using an application shortcut key input method. For example, the application shortcut key indicates an application currently running. You can switch to another application. In addition, the application shortcut key may be selected from a long key input and a short key. The application shortcut key may be used to enter a corresponding application using a long key function among the application shortcut keys.

Next, the at least one background application is displayed by being grouped by category (S240). In this case, the category may be each of the background applications, or may be at least one background application selected by the user. For example, the category is selected and grouped among a game program, a wireless Internet access program, a graphic program, a utility program, a music program, a Short Message Service (SMS) message, a Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) message, and an E-mail.

In this case, the applications that do not have the category specified may be included in a default group, and in this case, the default group may be added by the user.

Next, a desired background application is selected and executed from the grouped background applications.

In detail, any one group among the category-specific groups is selected (S250), a background application to be executed is selected from the selected group (S260), and then the selected background application is executed (S270). In this case, the background application may be executed by a command selected from among Open, Icon Display, and Close.

Meanwhile, FIG. 3 is a detailed operation flowchart of a method for controlling a background application of a mobile communication terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is for explaining an example in which FIG. 2 is specifically applied.

Referring to FIG. 3, in the method of controlling a background application of a mobile communication terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention, first, a Java application is executed in the background (S311), and whether a Java common icon is displayed on the display unit 160. Check. If the Java common icon is not displayed, a specific icon is displayed (S321).

Next, when the Java common icon is displayed, it is checked whether a long key is input among Java shortcut keys (S313). Here, the long key is for displaying a Java list of the background application.

Next, when a long key is input among Java shortcut keys, the Java list is displayed for each category (S314). Then, according to any one of the user command (S315) of the open (Open), the icon display or the end, if the user command is open, the application is opened and executed (S316), if the user command is the icon display, display Changed icon. In addition, when the user command is terminated, the Java application running in the background is terminated (S317).

If a short key is input instead of a long key among the Java shortcut keys (S319), the icon may be changed (S320).

Even when a specific icon is displayed as in step S312 described above, check whether the long key is input from the Java shortcut key (S322), and if the long key is input, open and execute the application (S323). In the case (S324), the icon may be changed (S325).

4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of controlling a background application of a mobile communication terminal according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, a method of controlling a background application of a mobile communication terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention relates to a method of removing a background application.

First, at least one background application executed by a multitasking method is executed (S410).

Next, a mark indicating that the background application is running is displayed on the screen (S420).

Next, the selection switching of the background application is determined (S430). Next, the at least one background application is grouped by category and displayed (S440).

Next, at least one background application is selected and removed from the grouped background applications.

In detail, one group is selected from the group by category (S450), at least one background application to be removed from the selected group is selected (S460), and the at least one selected background application is removed (S470). .

5 is a diagram illustrating a grouping of a list of running applications according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating executing a selected application among grouped applications according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. .

As illustrated in FIG. 5, the display area 300 includes a state of use of a battery in a standby state of the mobile communication terminal 100, a reception strength of radio waves, a date and time, and the like. The operation mode may be displayed on the upper window, and the input items through the input unit 120, the transmission items through the transceiver 150, and the control items by the controller 110 may be visually displayed.

As shown in FIG. 5, the application group list 500 is displayed, and the game 510, graphics 520, internet 530, utilities 540 and default list 550 are displayed, all six Indicates that the application is running. Here, the numbers in parentheses shown in the drawings represent the number of applications currently running. At this time, applications that are not designated by the user are included in a default group. For example, the application's default group is four and can be added by the user. In addition, the user can include each application in a desired category. Reference numeral 410 denotes an execution command (OK), and 420 denotes a command to return to the previous.

As shown in FIG. 6, when the user selects a game in FIG. 5, a window such as 310 is displayed, and a specific game list, for example, Action in Life 311, Spaceball 312, and the like is displayed at the bottom thereof. A list of games, such as Halloween fever 313, is displayed, indicating that Action in Life 311 is selected. In this case, when the user presses the lowermost option Button 430, a selection button Open 431, a display icon S432 and a close button 433 are displayed.

For example, the user may execute the application with the selection button 431, set the display icon 432 as a java icon on the idle screen, and terminate with the end button 433. In this case, the default icon of the idle screen uses a Java common icon, and when the user changes the icon of the corresponding application may replace the representative application icon.

Here, in the case of the group icon, only the application representative icon or the individual application icon is displayed on the idle screen. For example, when a group icon is included, an icon for a new group created by a user may be difficult to display, and only the lowest icon is used as an indicator in order to directly access the corresponding application by using a long key among application shortcuts. Make it visible in the area.

7A and 7E are diagrams illustrating a mobile communication terminal to which a background application control method according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied, respectively.

7A and 7E, first, an appearance of the mobile communication terminal 100 may be represented by a display unit 160 and an input unit 120. The input unit 120 may be, for example, a keypad. The display unit 160 may be a display screen. In addition, direction buttons and side buttons for moving contents displayed on the display screen 160 may be further included.

The display unit 160 displays the operation mode of the mobile communication terminal in the upper window, including the state of use of the battery, the reception strength of the radio wave, the date and time in the standby state of the mobile communication terminal 100, An input item through the input unit 120, a transmission item through the transceiver 150, and a control item by the controller 110 may be visually displayed.

In the mobile communication terminal to which the background application control method according to the embodiment of the present invention is applied, first, referring to FIG. 7A, the mobile communication terminal displays an application running in the background on the upper window as shown by "B" 220. Here, reference numeral 210 denotes a tab button for application switching. In addition, reference numeral 161 denotes a telephone book, and reference numeral 162 illustrates selection of a person to be called.

Next, referring to FIG. 7B, when the application switch tab button 210 is clicked on, an application being executed is displayed for each group. For example, as indicated by reference numeral 163, "B" is displayed to indicate that it is a background application, and in this case, Game (3), Util (2), Java (2) and Ent (3) is displayed. Such group marks may be added or deleted according to user selection.

Next, referring to FIG. 7C, applications for the selected group are displayed. If the application running in the background is deleted, the corresponding item is checked as indicated by reference numeral 165.

Next, referring to FIG. 7D, an application to be executed is selected. For example, as shown at 166, Puzzle Bubble is selected from the game. Next, referring to FIG. 7E, the selected application is executed. As shown at 167, the puzzle bubble game is played.

7A to 7E illustrate execution of any one application in applications displayed for each group according to an embodiment of the present invention, but is not limited thereto.

Although embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains may implement the present invention in other specific forms without changing the technical spirit or essential features thereof. I can understand that. Therefore, the embodiments described above are to be understood in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.

As described above, according to the present invention, when the user executes various applications in the mobile communication terminal, the user can easily know what applications are being executed. In addition, according to the present invention, it is possible to increase the user convenience by switching the icon to be able to enter immediately.

Claims (10)

Displaying on the screen that at least one background application is running; Determining whether to switch the background application; Grouping and displaying the at least one background application by category; And Selecting and executing a desired background application from the grouped background applications Background application control method of a mobile communication terminal comprising a. Displaying on the screen that at least one background application is running; Determining a selection change of the background application; Grouping and displaying the at least one background application by category; And Selecting and removing at least one background application from the grouped background applications Background application control method of a mobile communication terminal comprising a. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The category may be selected and grouped among a game program, a wireless internet access program, a graphic program, a utility program, a music program, a short message service (SMS) message, a multimedia messaging service (MMS) message, and an e-mail. Background application control method of communication terminal. The method of claim 1, wherein executing the application comprises: Selecting one group from among the group by category; Selecting a background application to be executed from the selected group; And Running the selected background application Background application control method of a mobile communication terminal comprising a. The method of claim 2, wherein the removing the application comprises: Selecting one group from among the group by category; Selecting at least one background application to remove from the selected group; And Removing the selected at least one background application Background application control method of a mobile communication terminal comprising a. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The determining of whether to switch the background application is determined based on an application shortcut input method. The method of claim 6, The application shortcut key is a background application control method of a mobile communication terminal, characterized in that for switching the currently running application to another application. The method according to claim 1 or 2, A method of controlling a background application of a mobile communication terminal, wherein the applications having no category specified among the applications are included in a default group. At least one background application running in the background of a mobile communication terminal supporting multitasking; An input unit for inputting a key for selecting or switching the background application; A controller configured to control the background applications to be displayed by grouping the categories according to the key input, and to control the execution or removal of the background applications; And A display unit for displaying a background application grouped by the category under the key input and the control of the controller Mobile communication terminal for background application control comprising a. The method of claim 9, The controller may be grouped by category among a game program, a wireless Internet access program, a graphic program, a utility program, a music program, a short message service (SMS) message, a multimedia messaging service (MMS) message, and an e-mail. Mobile terminal for application control.

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