KR20070044963A - Provide method of menu user interface in mobile phone - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for providing a menu user interface of a mobile communication terminal, and more particularly, to allow a user to more easily recognize and select a desired menu from among a plurality of menus provided for changing various settings of a mobile communication terminal and using an additional service. The present invention relates to a method of providing a menu user interface of a mobile communication terminal.

In the method of providing a menu user interface of a mobile communication terminal of the present invention, two or more images having different sizes are prepared for each menu icon of the mobile communication terminal. The display is arranged and displayed in a ring shape on the menu screen, and the menu icon is rotated according to the input of the direction key button, but the currently selected menu icon is loaded and displayed relatively larger than the image of the non-selected menu icon.

Mobile phone, mobile phone, mobile communication terminal, user interface, UI, icon, rotation menu

Description

Provide method of menu user interface in mobile phone}

1 is an exemplary view of a matrix menu screen of a conventional mobile communication terminal;

2a and 2b is a front view and a rear view showing the appearance of a mobile communication terminal that can be applied to the present invention, respectively;

3 is an electrical block diagram of a mobile communication terminal that can be applied to the present invention;

4 is a diagram illustrating a rotation menu screen of a mobile communication terminal according to the present invention.

5A and 5B illustrate a method of providing a menu user interface according to an embodiment of the present invention;

6 is a flowchart illustrating a menu user interface providing method of a mobile communication terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention;

7A and 7B illustrate a method of providing a menu user interface according to another embodiment of the present invention;

8 is a flowchart illustrating a menu user interface providing method of a mobile communication terminal according to another embodiment of the present invention.

*** Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawing ***

100 and 200: mobile communication terminal 110: main body

112: numeric / character key buttons 113: microphone hole

114: Volume button 115: Camera button

116: Standard terminal slot 117: Camera lens

118: flash 119: infrared communication element

120: slider 121: function key button

122: flat panel indicator 123: speaker hole

130: antenna 140: battery pack

143: charging terminal 210: control unit

220: radio frequency transmitting and receiving unit 222: antenna

230: key input unit 232: function keys

234: numeric / character keys 240: memory

242: program storage unit 244: data storage unit

250: voice signal processor 252: microphone

254: speaker 260: flat panel display driver

262: flat panel indicator 270: vibration generating unit

272: vibration motor 274: LED drive unit

276: LED 280: camera driver

282: camera 284: image processing unit

286: infrared transmitting and receiving unit 288: GPS processing unit

310, 410: Menu icon display window 311, 411: Menu icon

313: Menu icon selection cursor 320, 420: Selection menu description bar

413: Selected menu icon 430, 440: Menu icon display cell

The present invention relates to a method of providing a menu user interface of a mobile communication terminal, and more particularly, to a method of providing a menu user interface of a mobile communication terminal to provide a menu user interface of a mobile communication terminal in an easier and more convenient form.

The mobile communication terminal, which is a necessity for modern people, is not only compact and lightweight due to steady development, but also is emerging as a complex communication terminal having various functions such as mp3, camera and navigation. In addition to the above functions, such a mobile terminal has a voice mail service (called a voice mail service) that allows a sender to leave a message in a recipient's voice mailbox or a fax mailbox when the receiver cannot answer a call. Voice Activated Dialing Service, which uses numbers and letters to connect a recognition device to memorize / register a user's voice and then make a voice call without having to dial the phone number when the user makes a call. Short message service (SMS) and short message service that can send and receive messages about 80 bytes, that is, 40 ~ 50 characters in Korean and 80 characters in English, can make a sentence longer and can add sound, video, etc. It provides various functions and services such as Multimedia Message Service (MMS).

On the other hand, the mobile communication terminal is provided with a menu provided for changing various settings such as a sound setting, a screen setting, and a password setting, and a menu provided for using additional services such as a game, a calculator, a schedule management, and the Internet. Is provided in matrix form or list form.

1 is an exemplary diagram of a matrix menu screen of a conventional mobile communication terminal.

As shown in FIG. 1, a matrix menu screen of a conventional mobile communication terminal includes a menu icon window 310 in which a plurality of menu icons 311 are arranged in a matrix form, and a menu for selecting one of the plurality of menu icons 311. And a selection menu icon description bar 320 on which an icon selection cursor 313 and a description of the selected menu icon 311 are displayed.

Accordingly, the user selects one of the plurality of menu icons 311 with the menu icon selection cursor 313 to execute a necessary function.

As described above, according to the conventional menu user interface, a certain menu icon associated with each menu is arranged in the form of a matrix or a list, and the user selects a required menu by using a selection cursor, thereby inducing a user to be curious and interesting as compared to the text menu. On the other hand, most menu icon selection cursors lack visibility and may cause unwanted menus to be executed, which can be cumbersome to re-key to select the desired menu. There was a problem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and the menu icon is placed on a rotating ring, and the size of the selected menu icon is larger than the size of the unselected menu icon, thereby increasing the visibility of the selected icon. The purpose is to provide a method for providing a menu user interface.

In the method of providing a menu user interface of the mobile communication terminal of the present invention for achieving the above object, at the time of inputting a menu display command, at least two images having different sizes are prepared for each menu icon of the mobile communication terminal. Each menu icon is arranged in a ring shape on the menu screen, and the menu icon is rotated according to the input of the direction key button. Provided is a method of providing a menu user interface of a mobile communication terminal to be called and displayed.

Hereinafter, a method of providing a menu user interface of a mobile communication terminal according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

2A and 2B are a front view and a rear view showing an appearance of a mobile communication terminal applicable to the present invention, respectively, illustrating a slide type mobile communication terminal. Of course, it should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the terminal of this manner and structure. As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the mobile communication terminal (hereinafter, also referred to as “terminal”) 100 to which the present invention can be applied includes a main body 110 and a flat panel display 122 having a main circuit built therein. ), The slider 120 may slide up and down in the main body 110.

In the above-described configuration, the front of the main body 110 has a number / letter key button 112 is used to receive the numbers and letters, the upper surface to perform infrared communication (IrDA) with the antenna and other external communication devices The infrared communication element 119 to be used is disposed, and a microphone hole 113 communicating with an internal microphone (not shown) is punctured at a lower position. The main body 110 is also provided with a rear surface in place, for example, a camera lens 117 and a flash 118 for illumination at night, and a battery pack 140 is detachable at the bottom thereof. The lower surface of the main body 110 is provided with a standard connection terminal slot 116 through which power for transmitting / receiving data with other terminals or charging the battery pack 140 coupled to the main body 110 is transmitted. .

On the other hand, the front surface of the slider 120 is provided with a flat panel display 122 for displaying various characters or graphic elements indicating the operation and operation state of the mobile communication terminal 100 and still images and moving pictures, and below the terminal ( A function key button 121 used to select or receive various functions included in 100 is disposed. Further, a speaker hole 123 communicating with an internal speaker (not shown) is drilled in place of the slider 120, for example, the flat display 122. In the drawing, reference numeral 114 denotes a volume button, 115 denotes a camera button, and 143 denotes a charging terminal exposed under the battery pack 140.

3 is an electrical block diagram of a mobile communication terminal to which the present invention can be applied. As shown in FIG. 3, the electrical configuration of a mobile communication terminal to which the present invention can be applied includes a radio frequency transmitter / receiver 220 and a number / character that transmit / receive a radio frequency signal with a base station through an antenna 222. Key input unit 230 and menu management including a function key input unit 232 and a numeric / character key input unit 234 for generating a corresponding key signal when the key button 112 and the function key button 121 are operated. An external memory 240 including a program storage unit 242 for storing various application programs such as a program and a data storage unit 244 for temporarily storing data generated during a calculation process or storing data such as menu icons From the microphone 252 for converting sound waves into a corresponding analog form of speech signal, the speaker 254 for converting an analog form of speech signal generated inside the terminal into sound waves, and the microphone 252. The voice signal processor 250, the flat panel display 262, and the voice signal processor 250 for converting the analog signal into a corresponding digital voice signal and converting the digital voice signal into a corresponding analog voice signal and outputting the same to the speaker 254 Vibration motor 272 that generates vibration when the flat panel driver 260 and the terminal 100 operate in the vibration mode, and the LED 276 for visually displaying the event when an event such as a call or a message is received. ) And its driver 274, an infrared ray transmitter / receiver 286 that emits infrared rays as a short-range communication means, and receives infrared rays emitted from the outside, and a controller 210 that collectively controls them.

In addition to the mobile communication terminal to which the present invention is applied, a camera driver 280 for driving the camera 282 under the control of the camera 282 installed in place of the main body 110 or the slider 120, the control unit 210, An image processor 284 for processing image data output from the camera 282 and a GPS processor 288 for receiving absolute radio signals emitted from GPS satellites and generating absolute position data of the terminal may be further provided as necessary. will be.

In the above configuration, the menu management program displays a predetermined menu icon in a predetermined size at a predetermined position when the menu is displayed on the flat panel display, and is achieved as a program for executing the corresponding program when the predetermined menu icon is selected.

4 is a diagram illustrating a rotation menu screen of a mobile communication terminal according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 4, the rotating menu screen of the mobile communication terminal according to the present invention includes a menu selection bar for displaying a menu icon display window 410 for displaying each menu icon 411 and a description of the selected menu icon 413. 420.

At this time, each menu icon 411 is displayed in a predetermined size at a predetermined position. The menu icons 411 arranged at a predetermined interval on the ring are arranged to look down from a predetermined angle, and the size of the menu icons 411 is viewed in a three-dimensional space when the ring in which the menu icons 411 are arranged is viewed. The menu icon 413 closest to the user is displayed the largest, and the icon farthest is displayed at the smallest to enhance the visibility of the selected icon 413.

Therefore, the user rotates the menu icon by using the direction key of the key input unit and executes the desired menu by pressing the select button when the menu icon of the desired menu is located at a larger position than the other menu icons.

5A and 5B are diagrams illustrating a method for providing a menu user interface according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, and two different sizes of menus for changing the size of each menu icon 411 are provided. This is achieved by storing the above menu icon 411 in advance.

First, Figure 5a is a diagram showing four menu icons (a, b, c and d) of different sizes given in the sound setting menu, Figure 5b shows a rotation menu screen according to the present invention, the rotation menu screen is a menu And a menu icon display cell 430 in which the menu icon 411 is displayed at a predetermined position of the icon display window 410, and a selection menu display bar 420 in which a description of the selected menu icon 413 is displayed.

In the above-described configuration, the number and position of the menu icon display cells are preset according to the number of menus. The size (a, b, c or d) of the menu icons to be loaded is determined for each position. .

Therefore, the menu icon 411 of each menu has four menu icons whose names are designated from a to d according to the size, and the menu icons (a, b) of the corresponding size according to the size determined in the menu icon display cell 430 to be arranged. , c or d).

For example, when the sound setting menu icon 411 corresponding to the size a is placed in the menu icon display cell 431 of the first time, when the user commands the right rotation by operating the direction key button, the first menu is displayed. The sound setting menu icon 411 disposed in the icon display cell 431 is moved to the second menu icon display cell 432, and the menu icon having a size b among the sound setting menu icons 411 is the second menu icon. The display cell 432 is disposed.

 6 is a flowchart illustrating a menu user interface providing method of a mobile communication terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 6, in the method of providing a menu user interface of a mobile communication terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention, first, in step S11, it is determined whether a menu display command has been input. If the menu display command is not inputted as a result of the determination in step S11, step S11 is repeated until the menu display command is inputted, and if the menu display command is inputted, the process proceeds to step S13 to display the menu icon display cell to be arranged for each menu ( The menu icon 411 is read according to the icon size (a, b, c, or d) set at 430.

In a next step S15, a menu icon 411 read out for each menu is displayed at a designated position, and in step S17 it is determined whether a command is input from a key button.

 If the command is not input as a result of the determination in step S17, step S17 is repeated until the command is input, and if the command is input, the process proceeds to step S19 to determine whether the direction key button.

If the result of the determination in step S19 is not the direction key button, the process proceeds to step S25 to perform a command corresponding to the corresponding key button. In the case of the direction key button, the process proceeds to step S21 and the menu icon to which each menu is moved according to the input direction. After checking the display cell, the process proceeds to step S23 to read out the corresponding menu icon 411 according to the icon size (a, b, c or d) set in the menu icon display cell 430 to be rearranged for each menu, and then back to step S15. Proceed to

7A and 7B are diagrams illustrating a method for providing a menu user interface according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, in which a reduction ratio is preset for each position where each menu icon is to be arranged in order to change the size of each menu icon. By setting.

First, Figure 7a is a diagram showing a menu icon 411 of the 100% size without a reduction ratio given to the sound setting menu, Figure 7b shows a rotating menu screen according to the present invention, the rotating menu screen is a menu icon display window 410 And a menu icon display cell 440 on which the menu icon 411 is displayed at a predetermined position, and a selection menu description bar 420 on which a description of the selected menu icon 411 is displayed.

In the above-described configuration, the number and positions of the menu icons 411 are preset in the menu icon display cell 440 according to the number of menus, and the reduction ratio of the menu icons 411 to be loaded for each position is determined.

Accordingly, the menu icon 411 reduced to the corresponding size is displayed in the menu icon display cell 440 in the menu.

For example, when the zoom out 100% sound setting menu icon 411, that is, the icon of the actual size that is not reduced, is placed in the menu icon display cell No. 1, when the user commands the right direction by operating the direction key button, Since the sound setting menu that has been placed in the No. 1 menu icon display cell 441 should be moved to the No. 2 menu icon display cell 442, the sound setting menu icon 411 is reduced to 80% in size so that the No. 2 menu icon is displayed. The display cell 442 is disposed.

8 is a flowchart illustrating a menu user interface providing method of a mobile communication terminal according to another embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 8, in the method of providing a menu user interface of a mobile communication terminal according to another embodiment of the present invention, first, in step S31, it is determined whether a menu display command has been input. If the menu display command is not inputted as a result of the determination in step S31, step S31 is repeated until the menu display command is inputted, and when the menu display command is inputted, the process proceeds to step S33 in which the menu icon display cell to be arranged for each menu ( The menu icon 411 is read according to the icon reduction ratio set in 440.

In a next step S35, a menu icon 411 read out for each menu is displayed at a designated position, and in step S37, it is determined whether a command is input from a key button.

 If the command is not input as a result of the determination in step S37, step S37 is repeated until the command is input, and if the command is input, the process proceeds to step S39 to determine whether the direction key button.

If the determination result in step S39 is not the direction key button, the process proceeds to step S45 to perform a command corresponding to the corresponding key button. In the case of the direction key button, the process proceeds to step S41 and the menu icon to which each menu is moved according to the input direction. After checking the display cell 440, the process proceeds to step S43, and the menu icon 411 is read according to the icon reduction rate set in the menu icon display cell 440 to be rearranged for each menu, and then the process proceeds to step S35 again.

Meanwhile, the rotation menu of the present invention may be provided with a matrix menu and a list menu so that the user can select the rotation menu, and the rotation menu may change only the size of the menu icon selected at the position where the menu icon is located without rotating. There will be.

The method for providing a menu user interface of the mobile communication terminal of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment and can be modified in various ways within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention.

According to the method for providing a menu user interface of a mobile communication terminal of the present invention as described above, the menu user interface provided for changing various settings of the mobile communication terminal and using an additional service uses a rotation type and a selection icon enlargement method. By doing so, the user's desired menu can be more easily recognized among a plurality of menu icons, thereby preventing the trouble of re-operation caused by wrong selection.

Claims (6)

In a state in which two or more images having different sizes are prepared for each menu icon of the mobile communication terminal, the menu icons are arranged and displayed in a ring shape on a menu screen when a menu display command is input. A method of providing a menu user interface of a mobile communication terminal in which the menu icon is rotated in response to an input of a direction key button, but an image larger than an image of an unselected menu icon is loaded and displayed for the currently selected menu icon. The method of claim 1, And the selected menu icon is disposed at the lowest position on the ring line. The method of claim 2, Each menu icon is composed of the same image of at least three or more different sizes, And the menu icon disposed on the ring line decreases in size as the menu icon moves away from the left and right of the menu icon disposed at the lowest position on the ring line. With one image prepared for each menu icon of the mobile communication terminal, each menu icon is arranged in a ring shape on the menu screen when the menu display command is input, and is displayed. Providing a menu user interface of a mobile communication terminal which rotates the menu icons according to an input of a direction key button, but enlarges or reduces each menu icon so that a menu icon that is relatively larger than an image of an unselected menu icon is displayed for the currently selected menu icon. Way. The method of claim 4, wherein And the selected menu icon is disposed at the lowest position on the ring line. The method of claim 5, And the menu icon disposed on the ring line decreases in size as the menu icon moves away from the left and right of the menu icon disposed at the lowest position on the ring line.

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