JP2008165476A - Personal digital assistant - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve operability from the point of view of function execution by preventing a standby picture from being in a mess accompanied with the increase of the notification information quantity of the standby picture. <P>SOLUTION: In the case of switching an execution picture on which any function is executed from a standby picture, a control part 12 stores the type of a selection region selected on the stand-by picture, and in the case of restoring the standby picture again from the execution picture, when new notification items concerning the executed function are generated, a selection region corresponding to the function from which the new items have been generated is displayed in a selected state in the case of displaying the standby picture, and when there is not any new notification item, the stored selection region is displayed in a selected state. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a portable information terminal capable of switching and displaying an execution screen for each function by using a tab or the like (item information), and particularly suitable for use in a cellular phone.

In portable information terminals such as mobile phones, which are currently in widespread use, improvement in operability as well as reduction in size and weight are the most important design items. While advanced functions are being advanced, there is a limit in a mobile phone having a relatively small display area even if an effective selection operation for various functions is to be realized, and a large amount of information cannot be displayed at one time.
For this reason, the standby screen specifies the display position so that the display does not overlap each other, such as background display, clock display, calendar display, sticky memo, icon, etc., or sets the content displayed on the standby screen It was supported by switching by pressing the or key and making the icon smaller.

  On the other hand, conventionally, in a single function such as a phone book display and a call history display on a mobile phone, a display form that includes a plurality of sheets that can be switched and displayed by tabs, and that displays notification items assigned to each sheet by function. Are known.

In order to make it easier to understand which function (communication, mail, camera) is currently being operated or set when setting the function of a mobile phone, a tab is added to each execution screen for function setting. A technique for performing window display and actively displaying a corresponding function setting screen by selecting (switching) a tab is also known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2003-283635 A

  Even though the conventional mobile phone has a relatively small and limited screen area for standby display, the amount of information to be displayed has been increasing with the increase in functionality. By making it as small as possible or devising the arrangement, it was possible to prevent the display from overlapping, but the complexity of the display content was not wiped out and the appearance was bad.

  On the other hand, according to the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, since the corresponding function setting screen is actively displayed by tab switching and other windows are hidden, the complexity of the display content is eliminated and the appearance is improved. However, since the switching destination window is only a function setting screen, operability from the viewpoint of function execution is still not solved.

  The present invention has been made based on the above circumstances, and prevents the standby screen from becoming cluttered due to an increase in the amount of notification information on the standby screen, and improves operability from the viewpoint of function execution. An object of the present invention is to provide a portable information terminal.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the mobile information terminal of the present invention has a plurality of selection areas associated with a plurality of functions for generating notification items to the user, and only the selected selection area A standby screen having an item information display area to be displayed in a form different from the selection area, and a notification information display area capable of displaying notification information indicating a notification item of a function related to a selected one of the plurality of selection areas. And a display unit capable of displaying a plurality of functions, and when any of the functions is executed, the display unit is switched from the standby screen to an execution screen corresponding to the function to be executed and displayed. The control unit stores the type of the selected area selected on the standby screen when switching from the standby screen to an execution screen on which any function is executed. When a new notification item related to the executed function occurs when returning to the standby screen from the screen again, the selected area corresponding to the function in which the new item has occurred is displayed when the standby screen is displayed. When there is no new notification item, control is performed so that the stored selection area is displayed in a selected state.

  Further, in the portable information terminal of the present invention, the control unit waits when returning to the standby screen when all of the running functions are completed or interrupted in a state where any of the plurality of functions is executed. You may comprise so that the said alerting | reporting information display area and the said selection area may be displayed on the said display part as a screen.

  The portable information terminal according to the present invention further includes a communication unit, and the control unit executes a predetermined function using the communication unit and generates a predetermined reception when reception of predetermined information occurs. You may comprise so that it may become the said new alerting | reporting matter regarding the said predetermined function.

  The portable information terminal according to the present invention further includes an operation unit that inputs an instruction to the control unit, and the control unit is selected when any of the plurality of selection areas is instructed by the operation unit. The selected area may be displayed in a different form from the other selected areas.

  According to the present invention, there is provided a portable information terminal that prevents the standby screen from becoming cluttered due to an increase in the amount of notification information on the standby screen, and improves operability from the viewpoint of function execution. can do.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of each screen configuration at the time of screen transition of the portable information terminal according to the embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, a screen with a symbol A indicates a normal standby screen on which a clock is displayed, and a screen with symbols B to E indicates a tab standby screen. The tab has a plurality of selection areas associated with a plurality of functions for generating notification items to the user and displays only the selected selection area in a form different from other selection areas. This refers to the item information display area (tab display area) indicated by reference numeral 1.
In each of the above-mentioned tab standby screens B to E, a calendar, a pasted memo, a BCMCS (Broadcast / Multicast Service), and an execution screen for switching functions are displayed on each sheet. Each of the switching tabs is added with a title. In the tab standby screens B to E described above, the “calendar tab” is selected when the calendar tab is selected, the “attached memo tab” is selected when the attached memo tab is selected, and the “notification tab” is selected when the notification tab is selected, and the function switching tab. While “” is selected, the “function switching tab” is displayed as a notification information tab to the user in a different form from the other tabs. Here, as a display form, priority display (active display) with the same color as the corresponding execution screen can be considered. In addition, the user can also select the “tab non-selected” state in which none of the tabs described above is selected. In this case, the mobile phone can display a user's favorite image, clock, etc. It is possible to display a standby screen that displays only a so-called standby screen that is not accompanied by a suspended icon display.

In addition, the area | region shown by the code | symbol 2 is a sheet | seat display area as "the alerting | reporting information display area which can display the alerting | reporting information which shows the alerting | reporting matter of the function regarding one selected area selected from the some selection area", Areas indicated by reference numeral 3 indicate soft key display areas. Each is shown.
In addition, the above “attached memo” means that an e-mail address, telephone number, URL (Uniform Resource Locator), information such as a memo is pasted on the standby screen like a sticky note, and the pasted memo is selected. A function that allows you to immediately send e-mail, phone calls, check schedules, and connect to sites.

  In the screen configuration described above, when the state of the normal standby screen A in which the tab is not selected is changed to each of the tab standby screens B to E in which the tab is in the selected state, each tab is displayed. It is assumed that a transition is made by pressing a one-touch key or an arbitrary key assigned corresponding to the sheet display, or when an event such as news reception occurs.

  When one of the tabs displayed in the tab display area 1 is selected, the contents of the sheet display area 2 provided corresponding to the tab are displayed. Tab selection (switching) is performed in the order of B-> C-> D-> E using the left and right keys assigned to the operation unit of the mobile phone, or A-> C, B using the touch key or the pointer on the screen. → Transitions such as D are also possible. Also, after transitioning to the tab standby screen and executing a predetermined function, it will normally return to the normal standby screen with a clock display, but when an event such as a missed call, mail reception, news reception occurs, A transition is made to the tab standby screen reflecting the contents of the event occurrence. Details will be described later. The selected tab is displayed with the color changed.

  In the soft key display area 3, appropriate soft keys corresponding to the display contents of each sheet are displayed, and the presence or absence of the display varies depending on the sheet. When returning from the tab standby screen indicated by B to E to the normal standby screen A, transition from any screen is possible by pressing any key.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the portable information terminal according to the embodiment of the present invention. Here, a mobile phone 10 is illustrated as a portable information terminal. As shown in FIG. 2, the mobile phone 10 includes a communication unit 11, a control unit 12, a storage unit 13, a sound processing unit 14, a speaker 15 (SP), a microphone (hereinafter referred to as a microphone) 16 (MIC). ), A display unit 17, and an operation unit 18.

  The communication unit 11 transmits and receives radio signals to and from the base station via a channel assigned by any one of base stations (not shown). Here, in addition to making and receiving calls, a Web page obtained by connecting to a desired server is acquired, and data is distributed from a contract server (not shown) by BCMCS.

  The control unit 12 can execute a plurality of functions (application programs). When any of the functions is executed, the control unit 12 switches the display unit 17 described later from the standby screen to an execution screen corresponding to the function to be executed. Has a function to display. Specifically, when the control unit 12 switches from the standby screen to the execution screen in which any function is executed, the control unit 12 stores the type of the selection area selected on the standby screen, and changes the screen from the execution screen to the standby screen again. When a new notification item related to the executed function occurs when returning, a selection area corresponding to the function in which the new item has occurred is displayed when the standby screen is displayed, and a new notification item is displayed. If there is not, control is performed so that the stored selection area is displayed in a selected state. Details will be described later.

The storage unit 13 stores various data used for processing in the control unit 12. For example, a computer program provided in the control unit 12, an address book for managing personal information such as a telephone number and an email address of a communication partner, an audio file for playing a ringtone or an alarm sound, an image file for a standby screen, Various setting data, temporary data used in the program processing, etc. are stored.
Particularly relevant to the present invention, the tab determination storage table 121 and the system save area 122 are allocated and stored.

In the tab determination storage table 131, as shown in FIG. 3 as an example of the data structure, a tab number (tab number) 1311, a standby display content 1312, and a tab determination flag 1313 are stored in association with each other. . The tab number 1311 is a number for identifying the tab displayed in the tab display area 1, the standby display content 1312 is the sheet content displayed in the sheet display area 2, and the tab determination flag 1313 is the selected tab. Show. In FIG. 3, the ★ mark indicates an example of update information displayed after an event occurs. Details will be described later. In addition, whenever the execution of an application program (hereinafter simply referred to as an application) is interrupted due to an event, the processing data immediately before the interruption of the interrupted application and the system information are saved in the system save area 132 for restoration. And memorized.
The above-described storage unit 13 is configured by, for example, a nonvolatile storage device (nonvolatile semiconductor memory, hard disk device, optical disk device, etc.), a randomly accessible storage device (eg, SRAM, DRAM), or the like.

The audio processing unit 14 processes an audio signal output from the speaker 15 and an audio signal input from the microphone 16.
That is, the audio processing unit 14 amplifies the audio input from the microphone 16, performs analog / digital conversion, further performs signal processing such as encoding, converts it into digital audio data, and outputs the digital audio data to the control unit 12. .
In addition, the audio processing unit 14 performs signal processing such as decoding, digital / analog conversion, and amplification on the audio data supplied from the control unit 12, converts the audio data into an analog audio signal, and outputs the analog audio signal to the speaker 15.

  The display unit 17 is configured using a display device such as a liquid crystal display panel or an organic EL (Electro-Luminescence) panel, for example, and displays an image (such as FIG. 1) corresponding to the video signal supplied from the control unit 12. indicate. For example, display various information and images such as the phone number of the callee at the time of outgoing call, the phone number of the other party at the time of incoming call, the contents of received mail and outgoing mail, date, time, remaining battery level, success / failure of outgoing call, standby screen To do. Here, the standby screen A shown in FIG. 1 and the tab standby screens B to E are switched and displayed as the standby screen.

  The operation unit 18 includes keys to which various functions are assigned, such as a power key, a call key, a numeric key, a character key, a direction key, a determination key, a call key, and the one-touch key described above. When these keys are operated by the user, a signal corresponding to the operation content is generated and input to the control unit 12 as a user instruction. Here, it is used as an input means for selecting a tab displayed on the standby screen.

The control unit 12 includes a main control unit 120, an application execution control unit 121, a standby display content update control unit 122, and a determination flag update control unit 123, as shown in FIG. And a display control unit 124.
When the main control unit 120 switches from the standby screen to the execution screen in which any function is executed, the main control unit 120 stores the type of the selected area selected on the standby screen and returns to the standby screen from the execution screen again. In addition, when a new notification item regarding the executed function occurs, when the standby screen is displayed, the selection area corresponding to the function in which the new item has occurred is selected and there is no new notification item. Is a control center for realizing the function of the control unit 12 for controlling the stored selection area to be displayed in a selected state, and here, it controls the sequence control of each block described later.

The application execution unit 121 has a function of executing a plurality of applications such as a clock, calendar, attached memo, BCMCS, and function switching, and uses a system save area 132 allocated and stored in the storage unit 13 described later. To manage each status of launching, running, interrupting, or terminating the running app.
The standby display content update control unit 122 has a function of writing (updating) display information generated by the application execution unit 121 in the standby display content field of the tab determination storage table 131 allocated to the storage unit 13. The determination flag update control unit 123 also has a function of updating a tab determination flag indicating a tab selection state provided corresponding to each standby display content field of the tab determination storage table 131 similarly allocated to the storage unit 13. .

The display control unit 124 reads the display content of the tab determination storage table 131 allocated and stored in the storage unit 13 in synchronization with the display timing of the display unit 17, and displays the standby display content corresponding to the currently selected tab. 17 has a function of performing priority display (active display).
The functions of the respective blocks 120 to 125 described above are achieved by executing the respective programs stored in the storage unit 13 by the control unit 12. It does not indicate only what is divided and incorporated as another block, but is simply a representation of each processing unit separately for the sake of simplicity.

4 and 5 are flowcharts showing the operation of the portable information terminal according to the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, in the access processing of the tab discrimination storage table 131 and the update processing of the standby display contents. Each flow is shown.
Hereinafter, the operation of the portable information terminal according to the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 will be described in detail with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 4 and 5.

  The mobile phone 10 uses the tab determination flag 1313 to determine which tab is selected and which standby display content (sheet) is displayed in the state where the standby screens A to E shown in FIG. 1 are displayed. It shall be remembered. Specifically, the tab determination flag 1313 is set in the tab determination storage table 131 when the determination flag update control unit 123 sets the determination flag corresponding to the function being executed to “1” under the control of the application execution control unit 121. Remembered.

In the flowchart of FIG. 4, from the state in which the normal standby screen indicated by symbol A or the tab standby screens indicated by symbols B to E is displayed in FIG. 1, missed calls, mail reception, news by BCMCS When an event (interrupt) such as reception occurs, the control unit 12 (main control unit 120) detects the occurrence of the event and activates the application execution control unit 121. Then, the application execution control unit 121 reads out the application necessary for the event processing described above, and determines whether the generated event needs to update the standby display content or icon of any of the standby screens A to E. To do.
Here, if it is determined that the update is necessary, the standby display content generated by the application execution control unit 121 is updated at any time and the content of the tab determination storage table 131 is updated as shown in the flowchart of FIG. (S41: Shown as an event in this case). The processing for updating the standby display content will be described later with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  On the other hand, when the time-out or pressing of the end call key is detected and all the application programs are terminated or interrupted (S42 “Yes”), the application execution unit 121 stores the standby screens A to E when returning to the standby screens A to E. The tab discrimination storage table 131 of the unit 13 is accessed to refer to the tab discrimination flag 1313 (S43). Subsequently, the application execution control unit 121 activates the display control unit 124, and the display control unit 124 reads out the standby display content 1312 where “1” is set in the tab determination flag 1313 (S44). The display unit 17 is controlled so that an appropriate standby screen is preferentially displayed (displayed in a selected state) among the standby screens indicated by -E (S45).

  Next, the flow of processing when updating tab display contents will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  When the event occurs (S51 “Yes”), the main control unit 120 determines the event type and activates the application execution control unit 121 (S52), and the application execution control unit 121 reads and executes the corresponding application program. To do. Subsequently, the application execution control unit 121 determines whether or not the generated event is a new notification item and the display contents and icons of the standby screens A to E need to be updated (S53). If it is determined that updating is necessary (S53 “Yes”), the application execution control unit 121 determines a tab number 1311 corresponding to the application and activates the standby display content update control unit 122 ( S54).

At this time, the standby display content update control unit 122 refers to the tab determination storage table 131 based on the tab number 1311 delivered by the application execution control unit 121, and also uses the tab information based on the update information delivered from the application execution control unit 121. The standby display content 1312 of the discrimination storage table 131 is updated (S55).
FIG. 3 illustrates an example of processing performed by the application execution control unit 121 when it is determined that display content needs to be updated. For example, wallpaper change due to clock application execution, birthday update due to calendar application execution, pasted memo deletion due to pasted memo application execution, news breaking news update due to BCMCS application execution, mail interruption processing during function switching, etc. A tab determination flag provided corresponding to the tab is turned ON (“1”). In FIG. 3, a black tab or a black sheet display portion is an update target.

When an event such as a missed call or mail reception occurs after updating the display content described above, there is a problem that the user cannot confirm the content of the event that has occurred unless the user himself / herself switches the corresponding tab. For this reason, here, when an event occurs and returns to the standby screen, there is also provided a mechanism for transitioning to a tab standby screen reflecting the contents of the event.
That is, for example, when the main control unit 120 detects the occurrence of an event related to news breaking news reception by the BCMCS, the display content update control unit 122 waits for the tab determination storage table 131 under the control of the application execution control unit 121. The display content 1312 is updated, and the determination flag update unit 123 updates the content of the tab determination flag 1313 corresponding to the BCMCS (sets “1” in the tab determination flag 1313).
Then, when returning to the standby screen, the display control unit 124 displays a “notification tab” so that an example of screen transition at the time of event occurrence is shown in FIGS. Is displayed preferentially (active display) on the display unit 17 together with the execution screen D. In this way, when returning to the standby screen after an event occurs, in order to preferentially display the tab that reflects the content of the event occurrence, the user can view the content of the event that has occurred without performing the tab switching operation himself. Can be confirmed.

  When mail interruption processing or the like occurs, under the control of the main control unit 120, the application control unit 121 displays the contents input immediately before interruption in the system save area 132 of the storage unit 13 and the system at that time. Information necessary for system reproduction, such as the status, is saved, and when restored, the information saved in the system save area 132 is read to reproduce the system status and the like, and the application execution process is resumed from the state immediately before the interruption.

The description returns to the flowchart of FIG. After the standby display content is updated (S55), or when it is determined that there is no new notification item and it is not necessary to update the display content and icons of the standby screens A to E (S53 “No”). The main control unit 120 activates the display control unit 124, and the display control unit 124 reads the standby display content (sheet) in which “1” is set in the tab determination flag 1313, and is indicated by A to E An appropriate standby display content 1312 is output from the inside to the display unit 17 to perform priority display (active) display (S56).
In this way, a plurality of standby display contents 1312 preferentially display the standby display contents 1312 that were valid before the event occurred after the event ended, and at this time, the information updated during the event occurrence was reflected In addition, the original standby screens A to E are displayed.

As described above, according to the portable information terminal of the present invention, it is possible to organize the display content of the standby screen by preventing tabs from displaying a large number of icons on the standby screen in random order. As described above, a large amount of information can be displayed on the standby screen even if the display area has a relatively small display area. Further, the standby screen can be switched to various display contents without requiring a troublesome setting operation.
Also, when returning to the standby screen after an event occurs, the tab that reflects the content of the event occurrence is preferentially displayed, so the user confirms the content of the event that has occurred without performing tab switching by himself / herself. be able to. In addition, the standby display contents that were valid before the event occurred can be displayed even after the event with multiple standby display contents, and the information that should be displayed on the standby screen with the information updated when the event occurred The original standby screen can be displayed after all of the above are reflected.

  In addition, according to the above-described embodiment of the present invention, only the mobile phone 10 is illustrated as the portable information terminal. However, the present invention is not limited to the mobile phone 10 and can be similarly applied to PDA (Personal Digital Assistants), game machines, and the like. It is. The functions of the constituent blocks of the portable information terminal of the present invention may be realized entirely by software, or at least a part thereof may be realized by hardware. For example, the processing in the control unit 12 and the data processing in the communication unit 11 and the audio processing unit 14 may be realized on a computer by one or a plurality of programs, and at least a part thereof is realized by hardware. Also good.

It is a figure which shows an example of each screen structure in the screen transition of the portable information terminal which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the internal structure of the portable information terminal which concerns on embodiment of this invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of a tab determination storage table illustrated in FIG. 2. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the access process of the tab discrimination | determination storage table of the portable information terminal which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the update process of the standby display content of the tab discrimination | determination storage table of the portable information terminal which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen transition of the portable information terminal which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Tab display area, 2 ... Sheet display area, 3 ... Soft key display area, 10 ... Mobile phone, 11 ... Communication part, 12 ... Control part, 13 ... Memory | storage part, 14 ... Sound processing part, 15 ... Speaker (SP ), 16 ... Microphone (MIC), 17 ... Display unit, 18 ... Operation unit, 120 ... Main control unit, 121 ... Application execution control unit, 122 ... Standby display content update control unit, 123 ... Discrimination flag update control unit, 124: Display control unit, 131: Tab discrimination storage table, 132 ... System save area, 1311 ... Tab number, 1312 ... Standby display content, 1313 ... Tab discrimination flag.

Claims (4)

An item information display area having a plurality of selection areas associated with a plurality of functions for generating notification items to the user, and displaying only the selected selection area in a form different from the other selection areas, and a plurality of selection area A display unit capable of displaying a standby screen having a notification information display region capable of displaying notification information indicating a notification item of a function related to a selected one of the selected regions;
A controller capable of executing a plurality of functions, and when any one of the functions is executed, the display unit is switched from the standby screen to an execution screen corresponding to the function to be executed, and is displayed.
The controller is
When switching from the standby screen to an execution screen where any function is executed, the type of the selected area selected on the standby screen is stored, and the function executed when returning from the execution screen to the standby screen again When a new notification item is generated, the selection area corresponding to the function in which the new item is generated is displayed when the standby screen is displayed, and when there is no new notification item, Control the selected area to be displayed in the selected state.
A portable information terminal characterized by that. The controller is
In a state where any one of the plurality of functions is executed, when all the functions being executed are finished or interrupted and the screen returns to the standby screen, the notification information display area and the selection area are displayed as the standby screen. To display
The portable information terminal according to claim 1. A communication unit;
The controller is
2. The predetermined notification using the communication unit is performed, and when reception of predetermined information occurs, the generation of the predetermined reception is used as the new notification item regarding the predetermined function. The portable information terminal described. An operation unit for inputting instructions to the control unit;
The controller is
When one of the plurality of selection areas is instructed to be selected by the operation unit,
4. The portable information terminal according to claim 1, wherein the selected selection area is displayed in a form different from that of the other selection areas.

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