KR20060007912A - An menu selection apparatus of the mobile communication terminal and the method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a menu output of a mobile communication terminal having an external display unit on the outer surface of the opening and closing, and more particularly, by outputting a menu selection screen to the external display unit to execute the function of the mobile communication terminal even without opening a folder. The present invention relates to a menu selection device of a mobile communication terminal and a method thereof.

The menu selection device of the mobile communication terminal of the present invention for achieving the above object, in the mobile communication terminal having an external display provided on the outer surface of the opening and closing portion and the inner display provided on the inner surface of the main body, the mobile communication terminal The menu selection device is provided on an external menu interface for outputting a menu item on the external display and an external menu controller for outputting a function execution command of a corresponding menu when a menu of the external menu interface is selected and a case side of the mobile communication terminal. And an external function button unit having an external menu key for driving the external menu control unit and a direction key for selecting a menu item displayed on an external menu interface output to the external display unit by the external menu key.

Mobile terminal, external display, menu, shortcut menu, external menu

Description

An menu selection apparatus of the mobile communication terminal and the method

1 is a front view of a mobile communication terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic internal configuration of a mobile communication terminal of FIG.

3 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of an external menu displayed on an external display unit in a closed state of a folder;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a lower menu when the phone book menu is selected in FIG.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure of an external menu execution method using an external display unit of a mobile communication terminal of the present invention.

* Description of Major Symbols in Drawings *

100: mobile communication terminal 110: processor

113: external menu control unit 120: external function button unit

121: Up Key 122: Down Key

123: external menu key 130: keypad

140: storage unit 141: external menu interface

200: external LCD

The present invention relates to a menu output of a mobile communication terminal comprising a main body having an opening and closing portion having an external display portion on the outer surface and an internal display portion on the inner surface, and more particularly, a folder by outputting a menu selection screen on the external display portion. The present invention relates to a menu selection device and a method of a mobile communication terminal to execute a function of a mobile communication terminal even without opening.

In general, a mobile communication terminal such as a mobile phone or a personal data assistant has a menu tree set in descending order, and is sequentially displayed on the internal display when a user requests it.

In addition to the increasingly complex functions of mobile communication terminals, the composition of menus is also complicated. The menus of the mobile communication terminal are classified according to a category preset by the developer, and in order to find a menu desired by the user, the menu is searched starting from the upper menu of the menu tree and following the relevant lower menu. If there is no desired menu, the user must go back to the upper level and start searching from another upper menu. In the case of the terminal currently in use, the total number of menus is dozens, so the above-described process for selecting the menu is very troublesome for the user. For this reason, in the current mobile communication terminal, a user may frequently use menus as shortcut menus to solve the trouble of searching from the upper menu to the lower menu of the menu tree as described above.

However, despite the efforts for convenience of user's menu selection as described above, in the case of a folder type mobile communication terminal having an external display unit and an internal display unit, the menu screen for menu selection is displayed only on the internal display unit. The problem of selecting and using the menu only when the folder is opened has not been solved.

Accordingly, the present invention is to solve the above-described problems in the prior art, by selecting a menu using an external display unit to output the menu selection screen to the external display unit so that the functions of the mobile communication terminal can be used even without opening a folder. It is an object of the present invention to provide a menu selection device and method thereof for a mobile communication terminal having a function.

The menu selection device of the mobile communication terminal of the present invention for achieving the above object in the mobile communication terminal having an external display provided on the outer surface of the opening and closing portion and the internal display provided on the inner surface of the main body,

The menu selection device of the mobile communication terminal includes an external menu control unit for outputting a function execution command of a corresponding menu when an external menu interface for outputting a menu item and a menu of the external menu interface are selected on the external display unit. An external function button unit provided at one side of the case and having an external menu key for driving the external menu control unit and a direction key for selecting a menu item displayed on an external menu interface outputted to the external display unit by the external menu key; It is done.

The external menu key is configured to operate as a selection key of a menu after a menu item is output to the external display unit. The menu item output to the external display unit may be limited to a shortcut menu preset in the mobile communication terminal or a shortcut menu registered by the user.

In order to solve the limitation of the size of the external display unit and the pixel, the above-described external menu control unit is preferably configured separately from the internal menu control unit which outputs a menu to the internal display unit.

In the above-described menu selection method of a mobile communication terminal of the present invention, an external menu drive signal input process for inputting a display request signal of a menu item to an external display unit of the mobile communication terminal, and the opening and closing part is closed after the external menu drive signal input process. Opening and closing judging process for judging whether or not the state, and if the opening and closing part is determined as a result of the opening and closing judging process, the external menu function driving process for outputting the external menu to the external display to select the menu. It features.

Here, the external menu function driving process, an external menu output step of outputting the external menu screen to the external display unit, a key for switching the up and down keys to the direction key, and the external menu key to a menu selection key It may further comprise a function change step.

In addition, the menu item output in the external menu output step may output one menu item among a user registration shortcut menu or a shortcut menu preset on the keypad.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a front view of a mobile communication terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic internal configuration of the mobile communication terminal of FIG.

The mobile communication terminal 100 shown in FIG. 1 includes a folder having an opening and closing portion as an external display, and an external LCD 200 as an external display portion on an outer surface of the folder, and on one side thereof, an up arrow 121 and a down arrow 122 and an outer portion. An external function button unit 120 configured as a menu key 123 is provided. The up key 121 and the down key 122 of the external function button unit 120 are usually operated to perform a function such as volume control, and the external menu key 123 is operated to drive an external menu function. do.

As shown in FIG. 2, the mobile communication terminal 100 of FIG. 1 moves with the processor 110, the keypad 120, the external LCD 200, and the internal LCD 201 for controlling the mobile communication terminal. Although not shown in the drawing and the external storage unit 140 for storing driving software and user input information for driving the communication terminal, an audio input / output unit having a microphone, a receiver, a speaker for input / output of an audio signal, and an RF communication unit It is provided.

The processor 110 includes an external menu controller 113 for outputting an external menu interface to be described below to the external LCD 200 on a screen, and controlling a menu to be selected through the external menu interface. 140, an external menu interface 141 as software for menu display of the external display unit is mounted. The external menu interface 113 displays the external menu on the external display unit 200 by the external menu control unit 113 driven by the external function button unit 120, and the external menu control unit 113 displays the external function. The present invention is characterized in that it is operated to perform a function of selecting and executing a menu according to a key input of the button unit 120.

Here, the external menu control unit 113 may be configured to be stored in the storage unit 140 in the form of a software module driven by the processor 110, such as the external menu interface 141.

The external menu control unit 113 is driven when there is a pressing signal of the external menu key 123 of the external function button unit 120 to output the external menu interface 141 to the external LCD 200, and the external function button The function of the unit 120 is changed to perform an external menu selection. That is, the above-mentioned up key 121 and down key 122 are set to perform a function such as volume control in the general case, but after the external menu key 123 is pressed and the external menu control unit 113 is driven. The function is switched by the up and down arrow keys for moving the cursor to select an external menu. The external menu key 123 is also switched to the menu selection key after the external menu control unit 113 is driven.

The processor 110 may further include an LCD controller 112 that controls screen output of the external LCD 200 and a keypad controller 111 that generates and outputs a signal corresponding to a key input value of the keypad 130. A modem DSP for mobile communication signal processing, an application DSP for performing an application program, an ARM CORE for video control, and the like are mounted. As described above, digital siganl processors (DSPs) such as modem DSP, ARM core, etc. mounted on the processor 110 are obvious to those skilled in the art of the present invention. Since the technical features of the present invention can obscure the detailed illustration is omitted.

3 illustrates an embodiment of an external menu interface output to the external LCD 200 when the external menu key 123 is pressed while the folder is closed. In FIG. 3, the external menu is illustrated as being output as a text-type menu interface screen, but a menu interface having a form in which a menu corresponding to the number is output at the center according to selection of a sequence number arranged in a circle is output. Modifications are possible. 4 shows a submenu when the phone book menu is selected in FIG. 3 to 4, the user can select a menu using an up key and a down key.

3 to 4 is a shortcut menu configured on a keypad of a mobile communication terminal, and may be configured to initially output an internet connection, a text message check, a call number check, a missed call number check, and the like. The shortcut menu may be configured to be output.

5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation process for outputting an external menu and executing a menu function by a mobile communication terminal of the present invention.

First, the mobile communication terminal of the present invention is provided with an up key, a down key, and an external menu key on the outside of the case, and an external menu control unit for controlling an external menu interface and an external menu interface output to the external display unit. Assume that it is mounted.

As shown, first, if there is an input of the external menu key 123 (S110), it is determined whether the opening or closing portion of the mobile communication terminal 100 such as a folder is closed or open (S120).

As a result of the determination of S120, when the opening / closing part is closed, the external menu control unit 113 is driven to load the external menu interface 141 into the RAM, and then the LCD control unit 112 displays the external menu interface screen for menu selection. Output to the external LCD 200 through. Then, the up key 121 and the down key 121 of the external function button unit 120 are direction keys for directional movement of the cursor, and the external menu key 123 changes its function to the menu selection key. The external menu interface screen output to the external LCD 200 in the above-described process may be configured as a main menu of the mobile communication terminal or a shortcut menu configured in the mobile communication terminal (S130).

Thereafter, menu search is performed according to the user's up key 121 and down key 122 input signals (S140), and it is determined whether an external menu key is input during menu search (S150).

When the external menu key is pressed in step S150, it is determined whether there is a lower menu in the selected menu (S160). If there is no lower menu, the function of the corresponding menu is executed (S170) and ends.

If there is a lower menu in step S160, after outputting the lower menu (S180), the process is repeated from step S140.

If the opening and closing part is open in step S120 of the above-described processing, after executing the function specified in the external menu key 123 to operate when the opening and closing part is in the open state, the processing is terminated. Since the function of the external menu key 123 in the open and closed state can be specified in advance, such as recording, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The present invention as described above is to allow the user to execute the function of the mobile communication terminal in the mobile communication terminal having an external display unit configured on the opening and closing unit and the internal display unit provided on the inner side of the main body even without opening the opening and closing unit. In the case of a moving situation, such as opening the opening of the mobile communication terminal is inconvenient to provide an effect of improving the convenience of use of the mobile communication terminal.

Claims (7)

In the menu selection device of the mobile communication terminal having an external display provided on the outer surface of the opening and closing portion and the inner display provided on the inner surface of the main body, the menu selection device, An external menu interface unit for outputting a menu item to the external display unit; An external menu control unit for outputting a function execution command of a corresponding menu when a menu of the external menu interface unit is selected; An external function provided on one side of the case of the mobile communication terminal and having an external menu key for driving the external menu control unit and a direction key for selecting a menu item displayed on an external menu interface outputted to an external display unit by the external menu key; Menu selection device of a mobile communication terminal, characterized in that consisting of a button. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the external menu key is changed to a menu selection key by the external menu control unit after driving the external menu control unit. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the function of the up key and the down key is changed by a direction moving key for selection of the menu by the external menu controller after driving the external menu controller. . The menu selection apparatus of claim 1, wherein the menu item outputted to the external display unit is one of a shortcut menu and a user registration shortcut menu configured on the keypad of the main body. An external menu drive signal input process of inputting a display request signal of a menu item to an external display of a mobile communication terminal; An opening / closing part opening and closing judging process of determining whether the opening or closing part is closed after the external menu driving signal input process; And a method of driving an external menu function for outputting an external menu to the external display unit to select a menu when the opening / closing part is in a closed state. According to claim 5, The external menu function driving process, An external menu output step of outputting the external menu screen to the external display unit; And a key function changing step of converting the up and down keys into direction keys and converting the external menu keys into menu selection keys. The method of claim 6, wherein the menu item outputted in the external menu outputting step is one of a user registration shortcut menu or a shortcut menu preset on the keypad.

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