KR100523912B1 - Information retrieval method for using special character in mobile communication terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

1. TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an information retrieval method using special characters in a mobile communication terminal.

2. The technical problem to be solved by the invention

The present invention provides more precise and accurate results (phone number, name or business name) with minimum search terms through information search (phone number, name (or trade name)), etc. through the number of letters, letter positions, excluded letters, and combinations thereof. Etc.) to provide an information retrieval method using special characters in a mobile communication terminal.

3. Summary of Solution to Invention

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for retrieving an information including a telephone number, a name, or a trade name in a mobile communication terminal, wherein at least one function of a character number, a character position, and a character excluding a portion of an input key of the mobile communication terminal is assigned. Setting to operate with a search term key (wild card) constituting a search expression for searching for the information; In the information retrieval mode, displaying a search word as a special character to form part of a search expression together with a search screen, and activating the search word key corresponding to the search word as the special character; Analyzing a form of a search expression including a search word input by the search word key; And outputting a corresponding search result by performing a Boolean search in the case of the unary search expression.

4. Important uses of the invention

The present invention is used for information retrieval services using special characters in a mobile communication terminal.

Description

Information retrieval method for using special character in mobile communication terminal}

The present invention relates to an information retrieval method using a special character in a mobile communication terminal, in particular, the number of characters, character position, excluded characters, and combinations thereof (characters, character position, Search for more accurate results (such as phone number, name or business name) with minimum search terms.

A commonly used portable terminal includes a user information input unit for inputting user information and a display unit for displaying the input information and schedule information in a visible state. Examples of such information processing devices include digital portable telephones (cellular phones), personal digital assistants (PCS phones), and next-generation mobile communication terminals (IMT (International Mobile Telecommunication) phones). Such portable terminals usually perform processing of user information and perform various functions according to a user's request.

However, in such portable terminals, there is an increasing demand for additional functions such as data communication, telephone number database, schedule management, personal memo, Internet search, broadcast reception, and video / music playback in addition to basic voice calls.

Applications for portable terminals that implement these additional functions are as known.

In particular, the telephone number database has become the most basic function of the portable terminal because of the advantage that the user can easily and quickly dial without having to remember or press the phone number of the other party. The telephone number database is not the same according to the manufacturer, but generally, when a predetermined search key is pressed, a search menu is displayed on the display of the portable terminal. That is, if a number, letter, syllable is input through a key input unit to search for a phone number, name, or trade name, the controller analyzes it and searches for a matched item in the memory and displays the result for the matched item. Output to As a search method of a telephone number, a name, or a trade name, a method of selecting a search such as a telephone number, a name, and the like and then searching in sequence or inputting a short keyword is widely used. Most of these portable terminals have a structure of searching in a quick search mode, a phone book, and a quick search in a tree structure menu.

However, the search method using the shortened keyword has been avoided by users because of the disadvantage that the process of searching for a desired telephone number is complicated and the user has to input a keyword directly. On the other hand, the method of searching in turn takes a relatively long time because the searching phone numbers are displayed one by one, that is, line by line.

In particular, according to the increase in the capacity of the portable terminal, the current telephone number database can be approximately 500 or more, and the conventional search method such as telephone number, name, or trade name is one of the items input by the user among the data stored in the memory. If there is a match, all of them are recognized as a match, and the amount is huge so that the meaning of data retrieval can be lost. For example, suppose that the data such as "Guil-dong", "Gucheolsu", "Dongyang Confectionery Co., Ltd.", "General Affairs Section" is stored in the memory, and if the term is found with the term "and", all of the above data Will appear as a match. However, the display window of the mobile communication terminal can only display about 7 to 10 items, so the more search results from the user's point of view, the more troublesome the key operation may be in order to find the desired item (page movement). In the end, it's a hassle because you have to check a huge amount of data.

Therefore, especially in portable wireless communication terminals that need to perform user information processing quickly in a portable state, and terminals capable of storing a large amount of data (preferably, IMT-2000 terminals, etc.), the items desired by the user can be precisely and accurately. There is a desperate need for a way to make it searchable and executable.

The present invention has been proposed in order to meet the above requirements, and the number of letters, letter positions, excluded letters, and combinations thereof (number of letters, letter positions) in information retrieval (telephone number, name (or trade name)), etc. , A method for retrieving information using special characters in a mobile communication terminal for searching for a more precise result (phone number, name or business name, etc.) with a minimum search term through a combination of at least two of the excluded letters). There is a purpose.

The present invention for achieving the above object, in the information retrieval method including a phone number, name or business name in the mobile communication terminal, a part of the input key of the mobile communication terminal of the number of characters, letter position, characters Setting to operate with a search term key (wild card) constituting a search expression for searching for information to which at least one function is assigned; In the information retrieval mode, displaying a search word as a special character to form part of a search expression together with a search screen, and activating the search word key corresponding to the search word as the special character; Analyzing a form of a search expression including a search word input by the search word key; And outputting a corresponding search result by performing a Boolean search in the case of the unary search expression.

The present invention also assigns at least two functions of the number of letters, letter positions, and excluded letters as a key constituting a search formula for information retrieval, and when the analysis result is a polynomial search formula, the minimum unit unary search formula In addition, the Boolean search is performed by each search expression unit, and temporarily storing the previous search results and reflecting the current search results, characterized in that it further comprises the step of outputting the final search results.

The above objects, features and advantages will become more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is an exemplary configuration diagram of a mobile communication terminal to which the present invention is applied.

As shown in FIG. 1, a mobile communication terminal to which the present invention is applied includes an RF unit 15 for processing a wireless signal input wirelessly and a wireless signal processed by the RF unit 15. The controller 10 controls the operation, controls the information retrieval method such as a telephone number, name or trade name, and is controlled by the controller 10 and is responsible for inputting various functions and operations of the terminal. And a key input unit 13 for receiving a key value from the user, a display unit (LCD) 14 for outputting data processed by the controller 10, and a digital signal processed by the controller 10 to be converted into an analog signal. The audio processor 17, a speaker for amplifying an analog signal output from the audio processor 17, converting the sound into a sound pressure that can be heard by a human, a microphone for receiving a user voice, and the controller 10 Take control It includes a ring tone generator 16 for generating a ring tone through the picker.

The control unit 10 of the mobile communication terminal controls the overall operation of the terminal and at the same time controls the information retrieval method such as telephone number, name or trade name according to the present invention. Then, control of various components provided is achieved.

The voice memory 11 stores various voice data.

The memory 12 stores an operation program and a system program of the controller 10, and the operation program and the system program are usually stored in a ROM area included therein and can be erased as necessary. Electrically erasable ROMs include EEPROM and flash memory. The memory 12 also includes a RAM that temporarily stores data generated during execution of various operating programs.

In particular, the memory 12 stores information (telephone number, name or business name) search program using a special character of the present invention, and a telephone number database. This information retrieval program provides more precise and accurate results with minimum search terms through the number of letters, letter positions, excluded letters, and combinations (at least two of letters, letter positions, and excluded letters). To search for (phone number). A more detailed description thereof will be described later.

The key input unit 13 includes a plurality of numeric keys (letter keys), menu keys, and function keys for performing various functions, and outputs key data to the controller 10 by external operations. In particular, the key input unit 13 includes a special character key (hereinafter referred to as a "search term key") button indicating the number of characters, character position, and excluded characters when searching for information such as a phone number, name or business name. For example, the search key can be used to search for information such as a phone number, name, or business name (usually a letter (Korean / English) or a number). You can set the symbols (for example, ".", "@", "_", "?", "!", "~", "^", Etc.) that can be represented by the number "0" button of, It is apparent that one of a navigation key, a function key, and a side direction key may be set for a search word key button, and a new key may be added on the terminal. Although the main menu and its submenus can be configured using the menu function as an index, it is preferable to set an existing keypad button or a separate key button to reduce the number of key inputs.

The display unit 14 is a display device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD). The display unit 14 is controlled by the controller 10 to display the state of the mobile communication terminal or the progress of the program. That is, the overall state of the mobile communication terminal and input user information are displayed. In particular, the number of characters, letter positions, excluded letters, and combinations thereof (number of letters, letter positions, excluded letters) in the information search (phone number, name (or company name)) screen is minimized. In order to search for more accurate results (phone number, name or business name) using the search word, the search word key indicating the number of letters, letter position, and excluded letters is activated. That is, in the case of a character used as a wild card, it is always displayed on the lower end of the display unit 14 in the search mode, and a corresponding key (search term key) is activated.

Accordingly, the control unit 10 reads out the corresponding information retrieval program from the memory 12 according to the information retrieval request of the user's telephone number, name or trade name by the key input unit 13, and based on the information retrieval program. After analyzing the search word input by the key operation, a matching item is searched in the telephone number database of the memory 12 and displayed on the display unit 14. That is, the key input unit 13 is a conventional user information input means, and includes a plurality of keys suitable for a mobile communication terminal to be applied, such as a plurality of numeric keys (letter keys) and function keys, and if there is an input of each of the provided keys, By outputting the unique key data corresponding to each input key to the control unit 10, the control unit 10 reads the information retrieval program according to the corresponding key input from the memory 12, and based on the information retrieval program. By combining letters, numbers, symbols, etc. input through the key input operation of the key input unit 13 (i.e., constructing a search expression), a matching item is found in the telephone number database of the memory 12 based on the search expression. The search is made and displayed on the display unit 14.

The RF unit 15 is controlled by the controller 10 and converts a signal output from the controller 10 into a radio signal. In addition, the RF unit 15 converts the radio signal received through the antenna into a desired signal and outputs it.

The ring tone generator 16 generates a ring tone through the speaker under the control of the controller 10.

The voice processor 17 modulates the voice signal input from the microphone to convert the voice signal into voice data, demodulates the voice data input from the RF unit 15 and the voice data stored in the voice memory 11 into voice signals. Sound is output through a speaker.

In particular, the search word key (wild card) of the key input unit 13 in the present invention is a key constituting a search expression, and indicates the number of letters, letter positions, excluded letters, and the like.

Next, an example of using a search term key (wild card) will be described.

In the present invention, "*", "#" and "!" Will be described as an example. This search term key (wildcard) is used when the symbol "#" button or symbol "*" button on the existing keypad or the number "0" button on the keypad is pressed more than once, or the navigation key, function key, and side keys. One of the arrow keys may be set for the search word key button, and a separate key may be newly added on the terminal. As long as it performs a function of constructing a search expression when searching for information such as a phone number, name or business name, it is not limited to the type or form.

For example, in an information search expression such as a telephone number, a name, or a business name, "*" is a command for searching for matching data after zero or more preceding characters.

Also, in the information retrieval formula, "#" is a command for retrieving data that replaces one character of the preceding character.

In the information search, "!" Is a search command for all other data except for the character after "!".

Now, assuming that "Hong Gil Dongjeon, Yeouido-dong, Odong Tree House, Donggyo-dong, Dong, Kim Cheol-soo, etc." are stored in the telephone number database, a Boolean search result based on a search expression (character + query key) consisting of search term keys Looking at it as follows.

For example, if the search expression is composed of "! Dong", since this search expression is a command to find data except the "dong" character, "Kim Chul Soo" is output as a Boolean search result.

In addition, when the search expression is composed of "* dong", since this search expression is a command for finding data whose last character is "dong" regardless of the number of characters, "Yeouido-dong, Donggyo-dong, Dong" is output as a Boolean search result.

In addition, when the search expression is composed of "dong *", since the command to find the data of the first character "dong" irrespective of the number of characters, "dong-dong, Dong" is output as a Boolean search result.

In addition, when the search expression is composed of "## dong *", since the third letter is "dong" and a command for finding data having three or more letters, "hong gil coin" is output as a Boolean search result.

In addition, when the search expression is composed of "## dong *! Jeon", if the third letter is "dong" and three or more letters, the command to search for data without "before" is output, so the Boolean search result is output as none.

As in the above example, the search using the search word key (wild card) may extract a result closer to the data desired by the user. In this case, the search expression entered by the user may be divided into several search expressions in the search expression analysis process. For example, "## dong *! Before" in the search expression may be two search expressions. In this case, the first search expression ("## dong *") finds data with the third letter "dong" and three or more letters (the first Boolean result is "Hong Gil Coin"), and the second search expression ("*! The first boolean in ") finds the letters without" jeon "in" Hong Gil Dong ". Therefore, there is no Boolean search result corresponding thereto. As such, in the case of at least two search expressions, at least two searches are performed by analyzing the search expression with respect to the input of the search expression (the number of search expressions and the Boolean search process proportional to).

Next, referring to FIG. 2, a method of searching for information such as a phone number, a name, or a business name using a special character (search key (wild card)) will be described.

2 is a flowchart illustrating an information retrieval method using special characters according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, first, in a state of information search mode such as a phone number, a name, or a business name 201, a search expression composed of a character (Korean / English, numbers, symbols, etc.) and a search term key (wildcard) In operation 202, the controller 10 analyzes the form of the search expression (unary search expression or polynomial search expression) according to the user's key input (203). In this case, since the search expression may be divided into several search expressions (polynomial search expressions), the search expression is divided into the minimum unit search expressions (unary search expressions).

Thereafter, a Boolean search is performed in each search expression unit to extract a Boolean search result and then temporarily store it in a memory (204 to 206). Here, the reason for temporarily storing the Boolean search result is that in the case of a multinomial search expression, the previous Boolean search result is reflected in the current Boolean search result.

Next, the final Boolean search result (telephone number, name or trade name, etc.) of the unary search expression or the polynomial search expression is displayed on the display portion 14 (207).

This process is possible at any time in search state 201.

The present invention described above is not limited to the above-described embodiments and the accompanying drawings, and various substitutions, modifications, and changes are possible in the art without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention. It will be clear to those of ordinary knowledge.

In the present invention as described above, at least two combinations of the number of letters, letter positions, excluded letters, and combinations thereof (number of letters, letter positions, excluded letters) in information retrieval (phone number, name (or trade name)), etc. ) Can be used to search for more accurate results (such as phone number, name or business name) with minimum search terms.

1 is an exemplary configuration diagram of a mobile communication terminal to which the present invention is applied.

2 is a flowchart illustrating an information retrieval method using special characters according to the present invention;

* Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings

10 control unit 11: voice memory

12: memory 13: key input

14: LCD 15: RF

16: ring tone generator 17: voice processing unit

Claims (3)

In the information retrieval method including a phone number, name or business name in a mobile communication terminal, Setting a portion of an input key of the mobile communication terminal to operate as a search term key (wild card) constituting a search expression for searching for information to which at least one function among letters, letter positions, and excluded letters is assigned; In the information retrieval mode, displaying a search word as a special character to form part of a search expression together with a search screen, and activating the search word key corresponding to the search word as the special character; Analyzing a form of a search expression including a search word input by the search word key; And Outputting a corresponding search result by performing a Boolean search when the analysis result is a unary search expression; Information retrieval method using a special character in a mobile communication terminal comprising a. The method of claim 1, Assign at least two functions of the number of letters, letter positions, and excluded letters as keys constituting a search formula for information retrieval, As a result of the analysis, in the case of a polynomial search expression, the Boolean search is performed in each search expression unit by dividing the expression into the minimum unit, and the final search result is output by temporarily storing the previous search result and reflecting it in the current search result. step Information retrieval method using a special character in the mobile communication terminal further comprising. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The query key is It exists as a known input key button or a separate key on the terminal, Preferably, a special character characterized in that it includes at least zero preceding characters and a search command for matching data thereafter, a search command for data replacing one preceding character, and a search command key for all other data except the following character. Information retrieval method using.