KR101463827B1 - Mobile terminal and method for displaying keypad thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method of displaying a keypad capable of easily inputting candidate characters that can be input and a mobile terminal including the display device. The display module includes a display module for displaying a keypad, an input unit for inputting an information search word through the keypad, Each time a character or a number is input, a keypad composed of candidate characters or candidate number keys that can be input next is displayed.

Description

[0001] MOBILE TERMINAL AND METHOD FOR DISPLAYING KEYPAD THEREOF [0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of displaying a keypad for easily inputting candidate characters that can be input and a mobile terminal having the same.

A terminal such as a personal computer, a notebook computer, a mobile phone, or the like can be configured to perform various functions. Examples of such various functions include a data and voice communication function, a function of photographing a video or a moving image through a camera, a voice storage function, a music file playback function through a speaker system, and an image or video display function. Some terminals include additional functions to execute games, and some other terminals are also implemented as multimedia devices. Moreover, recent terminals can receive a broadcast or multicast signal to view a video or television program.

In general, a terminal can be divided into a mobile terminal and a stationary terminal depending on whether the terminal can be moved or not, and the mobile terminal can be divided into a handheld terminal (or a handheld terminal) And a vehicle mount terminal.

Efforts are continuing to support and enhance the functions of terminals. The foregoing efforts include not only changes and improvements in structural components that form the terminal, but also improvements in software or hardware.

In recent years, mobile terminals equipped with a touch screen are increasing, and a keypad for inputting characters is generally displayed on a touch screen. Accordingly, the user can input a character in a touch manner using the keypad displayed on the touch screen. However, since the keypad displayed on the touch screen is always displayed in the same format regardless of the type of menu executed in the terminal, a touch error may occur when the interval between the keys is narrow, There may be difficulties in finding.

The present invention relates to a method of displaying a keypad configured to easily input candidate characters that can be input in a specific menu, and a mobile terminal including the same.

The present invention also relates to a method of displaying a keypad comprising keys corresponding to candidate characters that can be input in a specific menu, and a mobile terminal having the same.

The present invention also relates to a method of displaying a keypad configured by relatively emphasizing keys corresponding to candidate characters input in a specific menu, and a mobile terminal having the same.

The present invention also relates to a method of displaying a keypad configured by arranging corresponding keys in a position where candidate characters that can be input in a specific menu can be easily input, and a mobile terminal having the same.

In order to achieve the above object, a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a display module for displaying a keypad, an input unit for inputting an information search word through the keypad, And a control unit for controlling to display a keypad composed of candidate letters or candidate number keys that can be input next.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information search method comprising: displaying a keypad when a specific information search menu is executed; receiving a search word using the keypad; inputting a character or a number as the search word; To display a keypad composed of candidate letters or candidate numeric keys that can be used.

The mobile terminal according to at least one embodiment of the present invention configured as described above may display a keypad configured to easily input candidate characters that can be input in a specific menu. In addition, the present invention configured as above can display a keypad composed only of keys corresponding to candidate characters that can be input in a specific menu, and can display a keypad configured by relatively emphasizing keys corresponding to the candidate characters And a keypad configured at a position where the keys corresponding to the candidate characters can be relatively easily input can be displayed.

Hereinafter, a mobile terminal related to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The suffix "module" and " part "for components used in the following description are given merely for convenience of description, and do not give special significance or role in themselves. Accordingly, it should be noted that the above-mentioned "module" and "part"

The terminal may be implemented in various forms. For example, the terminal described in this specification may include a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone, a smart phone, a notebook computer, a digital broadcasting terminal, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistants), a PMP (Portable Multimedia Player) And fixed terminals such as a digital TV, a desktop computer, and the like. In the following description, it is assumed that the terminal is a mobile terminal. However, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that the configuration according to the following description may be applied to the fixed terminal, except for components specifically configured for mobile use.

1 is a block diagram of a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The mobile terminal 100 includes a wireless communication unit 110, an audio / video input unit 120, a user input unit 130, a sensing unit 140, an output unit 150, a memory 160, A controller 170, a controller 180, a power supply 190, and the like. 1 shows a mobile terminal having various components. However, not all illustrated components are required. A mobile terminal may be implemented by more components than the illustrated components, or a mobile terminal may be implemented by fewer components.

Hereinafter, the components will be described in order.

The wireless communication unit 110 may include one or more components that allow wireless communication between the mobile terminal 100 and the wireless communication system or wireless communication between the mobile terminal 100 and a network on which the mobile terminal 100 is located. For example, the wireless communication unit 110 may include a broadcast receiving module 111, a mobile communication module 112, a wireless Internet module 113, a short range communication module 114, and a location information module 115 .

The broadcast receiving module 111 receives broadcast signals and / or broadcast-related information from an external broadcast management server through a broadcast channel. The broadcast channel may include a satellite channel and a terrestrial channel. The broadcast management server may refer to a server for generating and transmitting broadcast signals and / or broadcast related information, or a server for receiving broadcast signals and / or broadcast related information generated by the broadcast management server and transmitting the generated broadcast signals and / or broadcast related information. The broadcast-related information may refer to a broadcast channel, a broadcast program, or information related to a broadcast service provider. The broadcast signal may include a TV broadcast signal, a radio broadcast signal, a data broadcast signal, and a broadcast signal in which a data broadcast signal is combined with a TV broadcast signal or a radio broadcast signal.

Meanwhile, the broadcast related information may be provided through a mobile communication network, and in this case, it may be received by the mobile communication module 112.

The broadcast-related information may exist in various forms. For example, an EPG (Electronic Program Guide) of DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcasting) or an ESG (Electronic Service Guide) of Digital Video Broadcast-Handheld (DVB-H).

The broadcast receiving module 111 receives broadcasting signals using various broadcasting systems. In particular, the broadcasting receiving module 111 may be a Digital Multimedia Broadcasting-Terrestrial (DMB-T), a Digital Multimedia Broadcasting-Satellite (DMB-S) Only Digital Broadcast-Handheld (DVB-H), Integrated Services Digital Broadcast-Terrestrial (ISDB-T), and the like. Of course, the broadcast receiving module 111 is configured to be suitable for all broadcasting systems that provide broadcasting signals as well as the digital broadcasting system described above.

The broadcast signal and / or broadcast related information received through the broadcast receiving module 111 may be stored in the memory 160.

In addition, the mobile communication module 112 transmits and receives radio signals to at least one of a base station, an external terminal, and a server on a mobile communication network. Here, the wireless signal may include various types of data depending on a voice call signal, a video call signal, or a text / multimedia message transmission / reception.

The wireless Internet module 113 is a module for wireless Internet access, and the wireless Internet module 113 can be built in or externally. WLAN (Wi-Fi), Wibro (Wireless broadband), Wimax (World Interoperability for Microwave Access), HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) and the like can be used as wireless Internet technologies.

The short-range communication module 114 refers to a module for short-range communication. Bluetooth, radio frequency identification (RFID), infrared data association (IrDA), ultra wideband (UWB), ZigBee, and the like can be used as the short distance communication technology.

The location information module 115 is a module for confirming or obtaining the location of the mobile terminal. A typical example of the position information module 115 is a Global Position System (GPS) module. According to the current technology, the GPS module calculates distance information and accurate time information from three or more satellites, and then applies a trigonometric method to the calculated information to calculate three-dimensional current position information according to latitude, longitude, Can be accurately calculated. At present, a method of calculating position and time information using three satellites and correcting an error of the calculated position and time information using another satellite is widely used. In addition, the GPS module can calculate speed information by continuously calculating the current position in real time.

An audio / video (A / V) input unit 120 is for inputting an audio signal or a video signal, and may include a camera 121 and a microphone 122. The camera 121 processes an image frame such as a still image or a moving image obtained by the image sensor in the video communication mode or the photographing mode. Then, the processed image frame can be displayed on the display module 151.

The image frame processed by the camera 121 may be stored in the memory 160 or transmitted to the outside through the wireless communication unit 110. [ The camera 121 may be equipped with two or more cameras according to the configuration of the terminal.

The microphone 122 receives an external sound signal by a microphone in a communication mode, a recording mode, a voice recognition mode, or the like, and processes it as electrical voice data. The processed voice data can be converted into a form that can be transmitted to the mobile communication base station through the mobile communication module 112 when the voice data is in the call mode, and output. The microphone 122 may be implemented with various noise reduction algorithms for eliminating noise generated in the process of receiving an external sound signal.

The user input unit 130 generates input data for a user to control the operation of the terminal. The user input unit 130 may include a key pad, a dome switch, a touch pad (static / static), a jog wheel, a jog switch, and the like. Particularly, when the touch pad has a mutual layer structure with the display module 151 described later, it can be called a touch screen.

The sensing unit 140 senses the current state of the mobile terminal 100 such as the open / close state of the mobile terminal 100, the position of the mobile terminal 100, the presence or absence of user contact, the orientation of the mobile terminal, And generates a sensing signal for controlling the operation of the mobile terminal 100. For example, when the mobile terminal 100 is in the form of a slide phone, it is possible to sense whether the slide phone is opened or closed. Also, it is responsible for a sensing function related to whether or not the power supply unit 190 is powered on, whether the interface unit 170 is connected to an external device, and the like. Meanwhile, the sensing unit 140 may include a proximity sensor 141. This will be discussed later in connection with touch screens.

The interface unit 170 serves as an interface with all external devices connected to the mobile terminal 100. For example, a wired / wireless headset port, an external charger port, a wired / wireless data port, a memory card port, a port for connecting a device having an identification module, an audio I / O port, Video input / output (I / O) ports, earphone ports, and the like.

Here, the identification module is a chip that stores various information for authenticating the use right of the mobile terminal 100, and includes a user identification module (UIM), a subscriber identity module (SIM) ), A Universal Subscriber Identity Module (" USIM "), and the like. In addition, an apparatus having an identification module (hereinafter referred to as 'identification device') can be manufactured in a smart card format. Accordingly, the identification device can be connected to the terminal 100 through the port. The interface unit 170 receives data from an external device or receives power from the external device to transfer the data to each component in the mobile terminal 100 or to transmit data in the mobile terminal 100 to an external device.

The interface unit 170 may be a path through which power from the cradle is supplied to the mobile terminal 100 when the mobile terminal 100 is connected to an external cradle, Various command signals may be transmitted to the mobile terminal. The various command signals or the power source input from the cradle may be operated as a signal for recognizing that the mobile terminal is correctly mounted on the cradle.

The output unit 150 is for outputting an audio signal, a video signal, or an alarm signal. The output unit 150 may include a display module 151, an audio output module 152, and an alarm unit 153.

The display module 151 displays and outputs information processed by the mobile terminal 100. For example, when the mobile terminal is in the call mode, a UI (User Interface) or a GUI (Graphic User Interface) associated with a call is displayed. If the mobile terminal 100 is in the video communication mode or the photographing mode, the captured image and / or the received image or UI and GUI are displayed.

Meanwhile, as described above, when the display module 151 and the touch pad have a mutual layer structure to constitute a touch screen, the display module 151 can be used as an input device in addition to the output device. The display module 151 may be a liquid crystal display, a thin film transistor-liquid crystal display, an organic light-emitting diode, a flexible display, a three-dimensional display 3D display). Some of these displays can be configured to be transparent so that they can be viewed from outside. This may be referred to as a transparent display. A typical example of the transparent display is a transparent organic light emitting diode (TOLED) or the like. In addition, there may be two or more display modules 151 according to the embodiment of the mobile terminal 100. For example, the mobile terminal 100 may be provided with an external display module (not shown) and an internal display module (not shown) at the same time. The touch screen may be configured to detect not only the touch input position and area but also the touch input pressure.

Meanwhile, the proximity sensor 141 may be disposed inside or near the touch screen. The proximity sensor 141 refers to a sensor that detects the presence of an object approaching a predetermined detection surface or an object existing in the vicinity of the detection surface without mechanical contact using an electromagnetic force or an infrared ray. Therefore, the proximity sensor 141 has a considerably long life span and its utilization is also significantly higher than that of the contact-type sensor.

Examples of the proximity sensor 141 include a transmission type photoelectric sensor, a direct reflection type photoelectric sensor, a mirror reflection type photoelectric sensor, a high frequency oscillation type proximity sensor, a capacitive proximity sensor, a magnetic proximity sensor, and an infrared proximity sensor.

Among them, the operation principle of the high-frequency oscillation type proximity sensor will be described. In the oscillation circuit, when the high frequency of the stationary wave is oscillated, the oscillation amplitude of the oscillation circuit is attenuated or stopped when the sensing object approaches the sensor sensing surface, These changes are converted into electrical signals to detect the presence or absence of the sensing object. Therefore, even if any non-metallic substance comes between the high frequency oscillation proximity sensor and the sensing object, the proximity switch can detect the sensing object to be detected without interference of the object.

The proximity sensor 141 may be configured so as to detect the proximity of the pointer with the change of the electric field along the proximity of the pointer if the touch screen is electrostatic.

Accordingly, when the pointer is not actually touched on the touch screen but is located close to the touch screen, the position of the pointer and the distance between the pointer and the touch screen can be detected. Hereinafter, for the sake of convenience of description, the act of allowing the pointer to be located on the touch screen to recognize that the pointer is positioned on the touch screen is referred to as "proximity touch ", and a pointer The actual touching action will be referred to as "contact touch. &Quot; In addition, a position where the pointer is proximately touched on the touch screen means a position where the pointer is vertically corresponding to the touch screen when the pointer is touched.

The proximity sensor 141 detects proximity touches and proximity touch patterns (e.g., proximity touch distance, proximity touch direction, proximity touch speed, proximity touch time, proximity touch position, proximity touch movement state, and the like) , And may output information corresponding to the detected proximity touch operation and the proximity touch pattern on the touch screen.

The audio output module 152 outputs audio data received from the wireless communication unit 110 or stored in the memory 160 in a call signal reception mode, a call mode or a recording mode, a voice recognition mode, a broadcast reception mode, The sound output module 152 outputs an acoustic signal related to functions (e.g., call signal reception sound, message reception sound, etc.) performed in the mobile terminal 100. [ The sound output module 152 may include a speaker, a buzzer, and the like.

The alarm unit 153 outputs a signal for notifying the occurrence of an event of the mobile terminal 100. Examples of events that occur in the mobile terminal include call signal reception, message reception, key signal input, touch input, and the like. The alarm unit 153 may output a signal for notifying the occurrence of an event in a form other than an audio signal or a video signal. For example, it is possible to output a signal in a vibration mode. When the call signal is received or a message is received, the alarm unit 153 can output a vibration to notify it. Alternatively, when the key signal is input, the alarm unit 153 can output the vibration by the feedback to the key signal input. The user can recognize the occurrence of an event through the vibration output as described above. Of course, a signal for notifying the occurrence of an event may also be output through the display module 151 or the sound output module 152.

The memory 160 may store a program for processing and controlling the control unit 180 and may store a function for temporarily storing input / output data (e.g., a phone book, a message, a still image, . In addition, the memory 160 may store data on vibration and sound of various patterns outputted when a touch is input on the touch screen.

The memory 160 may be a flash memory type, a hard disk type, a multimedia card micro type, a card type memory (for example, SD or XD memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory) SRAM (Static Random Access Memory), ROM (Read Only Memory), EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), PROM (Programmable Read- And an optical disc. Also, the mobile terminal 100 may operate a web storage for performing a storage function of the memory 160 on the Internet.

The control unit 180 typically controls the overall operation of the mobile terminal. For example, voice communication, data communication, video communication, and the like. In addition, the control unit 180 may include a multimedia module 181 for multimedia playback. The multimedia module 181 may be implemented in the control unit 180 or may be implemented separately from the control unit 180. [

The controller 180 may perform a pattern recognition process for recognizing handwriting input or drawing input performed on the touch screen as characters and images, respectively.

The power supply unit 190 receives external power and internal power under the control of the controller 180 and supplies power necessary for operation of the respective components.

The various embodiments described herein may be embodied in a recording medium readable by a computer or similar device using, for example, software, hardware, or a combination thereof.

According to a hardware implementation, the embodiments described herein may be implemented as application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays May be implemented using at least one of processors, controllers, micro-controllers, microprocessors, and electrical units for performing functions. In some cases, And may be implemented by the control unit 180.

According to a software implementation, embodiments such as procedures or functions may be implemented with separate software modules that perform at least one function or operation. The software code may be implemented by a software application written in a suitable programming language. In addition, the software codes may be stored in the memory 160 and executed by the control unit 180. [

 In the foregoing, the mobile terminal related to the present invention has been described in terms of components according to functions. Hereinafter, the mobile terminal related to the present invention will be further described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3 in view of the components according to the outline. Hereinafter, for simplicity of explanation, a slider type mobile terminal will be described as an example among various types of mobile terminals such as a folder type, a bar type, a swing type, a slider type, and the like. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to a slider type mobile terminal but can be applied to all types of mobile terminals including the above-mentioned type.

2 is a perspective view of a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The mobile terminal 100 of the present invention includes a first body 200 and a second body 205 configured to be slidable along at least one direction on the first body 200. In the case of a folder phone, the mobile terminal 100 may include a first body and a second body configured to fold or unfold at least one side of the first body.

The state where the first body 200 is disposed in a state of being overlapped with the second body 205 may be referred to as a closed configuration and the first body 200 may be referred to as a second body 205 ) May be referred to as an open configuration.

The mobile terminal according to the present invention may be a folder type including a first body and a second body configured to fold or unfold at least one side of the first body, although not shown in the drawing. Here, the state in which the second body is configured to be folded may be referred to as a closed state, and the state in which the second body is configured to be unfolded may be referred to as an open state.

Furthermore, the mobile terminal related to the present invention may be of a swing type including a first body and a second body configured to be swingable with respect to the first body, although not shown in the drawing. Here, the state in which the first body is superimposed on the second body may be referred to as a closed state, and the state in which the second body is swung and a part of the first body is exposed may be referred to as an open state.

Although the terminal according to the folder type and the swing type is not described in detail, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The mobile terminal 100 mainly operates in the standby mode in the closed state, but the standby mode is also released by the operation of the user. The mobile terminal 100 operates mainly in a communication mode in an open state, but is also switched to a standby mode by a user's operation or a predetermined period of time.

The casing (casing, housing, cover, etc.) constituting the outer appearance of the first body 200 is formed by the first front case 220 and the first rear case 225. Various electronic components are installed in a space formed by the first front case 220 and the first rear case 225. At least one intermediate case may be additionally disposed between the first front case 220 and the first rear case 225.

The cases may be formed by injection molding of a synthetic resin, or may be formed of a metal material such as stainless steel (STS) or titanium (Ti).

A display module 151, an audio output module 152, a camera 121, or a first user input unit 210 may be disposed in the first body 200, specifically, the first front case 220.

Since the display module 151 has already been described with reference to FIG. 1, a detailed description will be omitted for the sake of simplicity.

The sound output module 152 may be implemented in the form of a speaker.

The camera 121 may be implemented to suitably photograph an image or a moving image for a user and the like.

As in the case of the first body 200, the case constituting the outer appearance of the second body 205 is formed by the second front case 230 and the second rear case 235.

The second user input unit 215 may be disposed on the front surface of the second body 205, specifically, the second front case 230.

The third user input unit 245, the microphone 122, and the interface unit 170 may be disposed in at least one of the second front case 230 and the second rear case 235.

The first to third user input units 210, 215, and 245 may be collectively referred to as a user input unit 130 and may be employed in any manner as long as the user operates in a tactile manner with a tactile impression .

For example, the user input unit may be implemented as a dome switch or a touch pad capable of receiving an instruction or information by a push or touch operation of a user, or may be a wheel, a jog type, a joystick, As shown in FIG.

In a functional aspect, the first user input unit 210 is for inputting commands such as start, end, scrolling, etc., and the second user input unit 215 is for inputting numbers, letters, symbols and the like. The first user input unit 210 includes a so-called soft key used in conjunction with icons displayed on the display module 151 and a navigation key (mainly composed of four direction keys and a center key) for direction indication and confirmation can do.

In addition, the third user input unit 245 may operate as a hot-key for activating a special function in the mobile terminal.

The microphone 122 may be implemented in a form suitable for receiving voice, sound, etc. of the user.

The interface unit 170 is a channel for allowing the mobile terminal 100 related to the present invention to exchange data with an external device. Since the interface unit 170 has already been described with reference to FIG. 1, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

A power supply unit 190 for supplying power to the mobile terminal 100 is mounted on the second rear case 235 side.

The power supply unit 190 may be detachably coupled to a rechargeable battery, for example, for charging.

3 is a rear perspective view of the mobile terminal of FIG.

Referring to FIG. 3, a camera 121 may further be mounted on the rear surface of the second rear case 235 of the second body 205. The camera 121 of the second body 205 has a photographing direction which is substantially opposite to that of the camera 121 of the first body 200 and a different pixel from the camera 121 of the first body 200 Lt; / RTI >

For example, the camera 121 of the first body 200 has low pixels so that it is easy to capture a face of a user in the case of a video call or the like and transmit it to the other party, Since it is often the case that a subject is photographed and not immediately transferred, it is preferable to have a high pixel.

A flash 250 and a mirror 255 may be additionally disposed adjacent to the camera 121 of the second body 205. The flash 250 illuminates the subject when the subject of the subject is photographed by the camera 121 of the second body 205. The mirror 255 allows the user to illuminate the user's own face or the like when the user intends to take a picture of himself / herself (self-photographing) using the camera 121 of the second body 205.

The second rear case 235 may further include an acoustic output module 152.

The sound output module 152 of the second body 205 may implement a stereo function together with the sound output module 152 of the first body 200 and may be used for a call in a speakerphone mode.

In addition, an antenna 260 for receiving broadcast signals may be disposed on one side of the second rear case 235 in addition to the antenna for communication. The antenna 260 may be installed on the second body 205 to be detachable.

A portion of the slide module 265 that slidably couples the first body 200 and the second body 205 is disposed on the first rear case 225 side of the first body 200.

The other part of the slide module 265 may be disposed on the second front case 230 side of the second body 205 and may not be exposed to the outside as in this figure.

In the above description, the second camera 121 and the like are disposed on the second body 205, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

For example, at least one of the configurations 260, 121 to 250, and 152 described as being disposed in the second rear case 235, such as the camera 121 of the second body, It is also possible that the first rear case 225 is mounted to the rear case 225. In such a case, there is an advantage that the configuration (s) disposed in the first rear case 225 in the closed state is protected by the second body 205. Further, even if the camera 121 of the second body is not separately provided, the camera 121 of the first body may be configured to be rotatable so that the camera 121 of the second body can be photographed up to the photographing direction .

The terminal 100 shown in Figs. 1 to 3 is operable in a communication system capable of transmitting data through a frame or a packet, including a wired / wireless communication system and a satellite-based communication system .

Hereinafter, a communication system capable of operating a terminal according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

The communication system may use different air interfaces and / or physical layers. For example, wireless interfaces that can be used by communication systems include, but are not limited to, Frequency Division Multiple Access ('FDMA'), Time Division Multiple Access ('TDMA'), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Universal Mobile Telecommunications Systems (UMTS) (especially Long Term Evolution (LTE)), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) . Hereinafter, for the sake of convenience of description, the description will be limited to CDMA. However, the present invention is applicable to all communication systems including CDMA wireless communication systems.

4, the CDMA wireless communication system includes a plurality of terminals 100, a plurality of base stations (BSs) 270, and base station controllers (BSCs) 275 , And a mobile switching center ('MSC') 280. MSC 280 is configured to be coupled to a Public Switched Telephone Network (" PSTN ") 290, and is also configured to be coupled to BSCs 275. BSCs 275 may be coupled in pairs with BS 270 through a backhaul line. The backhaul line may be provided according to at least one of E1 / T1, ATM, IP, PPP, Frame Relay, HDSL, ADSL or xDSL. Thus, a plurality of BSCs 275 may be included in the system shown in FIG.

Each BS 270 may comprise at least one sector, and each sector may comprise an omnidirectional antenna or an antenna pointing to a particular direction of radial from BS 270. [ In addition, each sector may include two or more antennas of various types. Each BS 270 may be configured to support a plurality of frequency assignments and each of the plurality of frequency assignments has a specific spectrum (e.g., 1.25 MHz, 5 MHz, etc.).

The intersection of sector and frequency assignment may be referred to as a CDMA channel. BS 270 may be referred to as a Base Station Transceiver Subsystem (BTSs). In this case, the word "base station" may be referred to as a combination of one BSC 275 and at least one BS 270. [ The base station may also indicate a "cell site ". Alternatively, each of the plurality of sectors for a particular BS 270 may be referred to as a plurality of cell sites.

4, a broadcasting transmitter (BT) 295 transmits a broadcasting signal to the terminals 100 operating in the system. The broadcast receiving module 111 shown in FIG. 1 is provided in the terminal 100 to receive a broadcast signal transmitted by the BT 295.

In addition, FIG. 4 illustrates several Global Positioning System ('GPS') satellites 300. The satellites 300 help to locate at least one of the plurality of terminals 100. Although two satellites are shown in Figure 4, useful location information may be obtained by two or more satellites. The location information module 115 shown in FIG. 1 cooperates with satellites 300 to obtain desired location information. Here, you can track your location using all of the technologies that can track your location, as well as your GPS tracking technology. Also, at least one of the GPS satellites 300 may optionally or additionally be responsible for satellite DMB transmission.

Among the typical operations of a wireless communication system, the BS 270 receives a reverse link signal from the various terminals 100. At this time, the terminals 100 are in the process of connecting a call, transmitting or receiving a message, or performing another communication operation. Each of the reverse link signals received by the particular base station 270 is processed by the particular base station 270. The data resulting from the processing is transmitted to the connected BSC 275. The BSC 275 provides call resource allocation and mobility management functions, including the organization of soft handoffs between the base stations 270. The BSC 275 also transmits the received data to the MSC 280 and the MSC 280 provides additional transmission services for connection with the PSTN 290. [ Similarly, the PSTN 290 connects to the MSC 280, the MSC 280 connects to the BSCs 275, and the BSCs 275 communicate with the BSs 270 ).

5 is a flowchart illustrating a keypad display method of a mobile terminal according to the present invention.

In the following description, it is assumed that the mobile terminal has a touch screen and displays a keypad in a specific menu.

The controller 180 of the mobile terminal executes a specific information search menu selected by the user (S101).

The specific information search menu is a menu for searching information stored in the mobile terminal, for example, a phone book search menu, a dictionary search menu, a multimedia file search menu, a schedule search menu, or a subway information search menu.

Then, the control unit 180 displays an execution screen of the specific information search menu.

The specific information search menu can input information composed of numbers or characters in an arbitrary information input window. For example, in the case of the phone book search menu, a matching name can be searched by inputting the user's name, telephone number, or e-mail address.

When the user selects an information input window on the execution screen of the specific information search menu, the control unit 180 displays a cursor on the selected information input window, and also displays keys related to the information search word that can be input to the information input window Is displayed on one side of the display area (S102).

At this time, the keypad includes keys related to information that can be input to the information input window. For example, if the information input window is a window for inputting a telephone number, a keypad including numeric keys is displayed. If the information input window is an item for inputting an e-mail, a keypad composed of alphabet characters is displayed.

The user can input any search term using the displayed keypad.

When the user inputs the first letter or number of the search term (S103), the controller 180 searches for information beginning with the letter or number. The information may be a telephone number, a multimedia file, a word, a schedule, or a subway station according to the type of the information search menu currently executed.

Then, the controller 180 displays a keypad composed of alphanumeric keys that can be input next to the first character or number in the retrieved information list. Hereinafter, a character that can be input next to the first character is referred to as a candidate character, and a number that can be input next to the first character is referred to as a candidate number. That is, a keypad including keys for inputting candidate characters or candidate numbers is displayed (S104).

When the user inputs a second character or number of the search word on the keypad composed of the candidate character key or the candidate number keys, the controller 180 searches for information beginning with the first and second inputted characters or numbers do. Then, a keypad composed of candidate character keys or candidate number keys that can be input third in the searched information list is displayed.

As described above, the control unit 180 displays a keypad composed of candidate character keys or candidate numeric keys that can be input next time each time the user inputs a character or a number constituting a search word. The configuration of the keypad will be described in detail with reference to other drawings.

The operation of displaying the keypad is repeated until the user selects any one of the searched information lists (S103 to S105). That is, if the user selects any one of the retrieved information lists (S105), the keypad is not marked (S106).

Since the number of keys constituting the keypad is reduced each time the keypad is newly displayed, the user can more easily input the candidate character key or the candidate number key.

6 is a diagram for explaining a keypad display method of a mobile terminal according to the present invention. The keypad display method of the present invention uses a database for each menu stored in the mobile terminal. For example, a keypad displayed to search for a recent call list uses a recent call database, a keypad displayed to search for a phone book list uses a phonebook database, a keypad displayed to search for a multimedia file list, Uses a multimedia file database.

The database is stored in the memory 160.

In general, when displaying the execution screen of the specific information search menu, the controller 180 of the touch-type mobile terminal displays the execution information of the specific information search menu in the information input window 410 of the specific information search menu, A keypad 420 for inputting a search word is displayed on one side of the display area. The retrieved information list 430 is displayed on the other side of the display area.

The keypad is composed of letters or numbers according to the type of information to be searched.

The controller 180 of the mobile terminal according to the present invention displays the general keypad as described above until the search word is input. However, when the user starts inputting the search word, the control unit 180, as shown in FIGS. 6 (b) and 6 (c), whenever the characters (or numbers) constituting the search word are input, (Or number) keys to be input next to the keypad.

7 is an exemplary view for explaining a method of configuring a keypad according to the present invention.

As described above, every time characters (or numbers) constituting a search word are input (S201), the controller 180 searches the information database related to the currently executed information search menu (S202).

That is, a candidate character (or number) that can be input next to the input character (or number) is searched in the information database. At this time, the number of the candidate characters (or numbers) may vary according to the number of information stored in the database.

Then, the keypad is configured with the keys for inputting the searched candidate characters (or numbers) (S203). The configuration of the keypad updates each time characters (or numbers) constituting the search word are input.

The updated keypad is displayed every time characters (or numbers) constituting the search word are input (S204).

Here, the updated keypad is preferably displayed each time characters (or numbers) constituting the search word are input. However, if the user's key input speed is faster than the predetermined reference speed, displaying the updated keypad may interfere with the key input. Therefore, it is possible to display the selectively updated keypad only when the key input speed of the user is slower than the preset reference speed. The selection of the keypad display method can be preset through an optional setting option (not shown).

At this time, the controller 180 may display the updated keypad, and may update and display the information list including the characters (or numbers) input in the information input window. However, since the method of displaying the updated information list is out of the scope of the present invention, a description thereof will be omitted.

8A to 8D are illustrations for explaining the configuration of a keypad according to the present invention.

The keypad allows a user to more easily input a search term and prevents touch errors when a key is input. Therefore, in order to achieve the above object, a keypad having various shapes can be constructed.

The keypad may change the size, shape, or color of the candidate character (or number) keys, while maintaining the number of character (or number) keys. Alternatively, the number of character (or number) keys constituting the keypad can be changed. Alternatively, the number of keys constituting the keypad can be changed, and the size, shape, color, or display position of each key can be changed.

For example, as shown in FIG. 8A, the size of the candidate character (or number) keys can be displayed to be larger than the size of the other keys while the number of keys remains unchanged.

Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 8B, the color for the candidate character (or number) keys can be displayed more clearly than the other keys, while the number of keys remains unchanged. That is, the colors of the other keys may be dimmed and the color of the candidate character keys may be dark. Alternatively, candidate character (or number) keys can be highlighted and displayed.

Further, as shown in Fig. 8C, the keypad may be composed only of the candidate character (or number) keys, and the display position of each key can be maintained as it is. That is, it is possible to increase the margin of the keypad by deleting the keys other than the candidate character keys without displaying them.

Alternatively, as shown in Fig. 8D, the keypad may be configured only with candidate character (or number) keys, and the display position of each of the keys may be changed. That is, it can be changed to a position that is easier to input. For example, since the user habitually holds the mobile terminal with one hand and inputs a character, it is not easy to input characters at the bottom of the keypad area. Therefore, the position of the remaining candidate character (or number) keys can be shifted to the top.

8D, when the number of candidate character (or number) keys is smaller than the preset reference number, the display area of the keypad may be reduced and the display area of the retrieved information list may be increased instead. That is, the size of the display area can be adjusted.

Although not shown in the drawing, candidate character (or number) keys can be arranged at the top of the keypad area while the number of keys is maintained, and the size of the candidate character (or number) The size of the keys arranged at the lower end can be displayed smaller. Accordingly, candidate character (or number) keys can be emphasized and displayed without changing the size of the keypad area.

When the size of the keypad area is adjusted as described above, the retrieved information list can be displayed more.

Further, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the above-described method can be implemented as computer-readable code on a medium on which a program is recorded. The computer readable medium includes all kinds of recording devices in which data that can be read by a computer system is stored. Examples of the computer-readable medium include ROM, RAM, CD-ROM, magnetic tape, floppy disk, optical data storage, and the like, and also implemented in the form of a carrier wave (for example, transmission over the Internet) . In addition, the computer may include a control unit 180 of the terminal.

The mobile terminal described above can be applied to not only the configuration and method of the embodiments described above but also all or some of the embodiments may be selectively combined so that various modifications may be made to the embodiments It is possible.

1 is a block diagram of a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an example of a mobile terminal according to the present invention. FIG.

Figure 3 is a rear perspective view of the mobile terminal of Figure 2;

4 is an exemplary view of a communication system in which a terminal according to the present invention is operable.

5 is a flowchart showing a keypad display method of a mobile terminal according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an exemplary view for explaining a keypad display method of a mobile terminal according to the present invention; FIG.

FIG. 7 is an exemplary view for explaining a method of configuring a keypad according to the present invention; FIG.

8A to 8D are diagrams for explaining the configuration of a keypad according to the present invention;

Claims (15)

A display module for displaying an execution screen and a keypad of a specific information search menu; An input unit for inputting a search word through the keypad; And a control unit for changing the keypad so that only candidate characters or candidate number keys that can be input next are input whenever a character or a number is input as the search word, The candidate character or the candidate number displayed on the changed keypad may be, Wherein the character string is changed according to the type of the specific information search menu for any one character or number inputted as the search word. The method according to claim 1, The display module displays a list of the information to be searched on one side of the display area, and the control unit controls the keypad every time a character or a number is input as the search term until one of the information list is selected And displays the updated information. The apparatus of claim 1, Each time a character or a number is input as the search word, searches the information database related to the specific information search menu and inputs the information in the next order of the input letters or numbers from among information of names starting with the input search word Wherein the control unit controls the display unit to display a keypad composed of candidate letters or numeric keys. delete delete The apparatus of claim 1, And controls to display the keypad by changing the display position of the candidate character or the candidate number keys. The apparatus of claim 1, And controls the size of the keypad area to be displayed according to the number of the candidate letters or the number keys to be displayed on the keypad. Displaying a keypad when a specific information search menu is executed; Receiving a search word using the keypad; And changing the keypad so that only a candidate character or candidate number keys that can be input next is input whenever a character or a number is input as the search word, The candidate character or the candidate number displayed on the changed keypad may be, Wherein the first character and the second character are different depending on the type of the specific information search menu. 9. The method of claim 8, Wherein the step of changing the keypad is repeated until the user selects one of the information items to be searched. 9. The method of claim 8, wherein changing the keypad comprises: Searching the information database related to the specific information search menu every time letters or numbers constituting the search word are input, Wherein the keypad display unit displays a keypad composed of candidate letters or numeric keys that can be input in the next order of the input letters or numbers from the information of the names starting with the input search word. 9. The method of claim 8, wherein changing the keypad comprises: Wherein the updated keypad is displayed every time characters (or numbers) constituting the search word are input. delete delete 9. The method of claim 8, wherein changing the keypad comprises: Wherein the keypad is constituted by only candidate characters or candidate number keys, and the display position of each of the keys can be changed. 9. The method of claim 8, wherein changing the keypad comprises: Wherein the size of the keypad area is adjusted according to the number of the candidate letters or the number keys to be displayed on the keypad.

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