KR100678896B1 - Method and apparatus for software control using by remote controller - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided are a method and an apparatus for controlling an application program using a remote controller.

App control device using a remote control according to an embodiment of the present invention, the command code corresponding to the shortcut key of the application menu and the command code for the numeric key of the remote control is mapped number-shortcut key mapping table, the remote transmitted from the remote control A control unit for processing a control signal to obtain a command code for the numeric key and a number-shortkey converter for converting the command code for the numeric key into a command code for the shortcut key with reference to the number-shortkey mapping table And a corresponding operation of the application program is performed according to the converted command code.

Digital TV (DTV), remote controller, application control, number-shortcut mapping table, number-shortcut converter

Description

Method and apparatus for controlling application program using remote control {Method and apparatus for software control using by remote controller}

1 illustrates an execution window of a conventional application program.

2 illustrates the structure of a remote controller applied to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 shows a structure of a digital broadcast receiver according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a diagram illustrating a menu-number mapping viewer output when an application program is executed, according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

5 shows an application program control process using a remote controller according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

6A, 6B, and 6C illustrate execution windows output when an application program is executed, according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

7 illustrates an application program control process using a remote controller according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

200: remote controller

340: key conversion module

341: number-shortcut converter

420: Menu-Number Mapping Viewer for Applications

600: execution window for remote control input

The present invention relates to application program control, and more particularly, to a method and an apparatus capable of controlling an application program with a remote controller.

Computer applications are generally designed to accept user input through input devices such as a mouse and keyboard. When the application program is executed in the computer, the execution window 100 as shown in FIG. 1 is generally output to the monitor. The program execution window 100 includes an input window 120 showing a result of text input and the like, and a toolbar 110 displaying functions and menus provided by the program. At this time, each menu of the toolbar is provided with shortcut information for executing the corresponding function. Therefore, the user can execute a desired command by selecting a desired menu using a mouse or by inputting a shortcut key for the corresponding command using a keyboard.

As described above, most application programs are provided in a form suitable for an input device such as a keyboard or a mouse. Therefore, there is a problem that it is not easy to control such an application program in a consumer electronic device (CE) having a remote controller as an injection power device such as a digital TV.

In addition, in order to control an application program using a remote controller, there is a problem in that a user interface for remote control input (hereinafter, referred to as 'UI') must be separately created by simplifying an application program execution menu or function.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for controlling an application program using a remote controller even in a digital home appliance such as a digital TV that uses a remote controller as an injection force device. There is this.

However, the objects of the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned objects, and other objects not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

Apparatus for controlling an application using a remote control according to an embodiment of the present invention to achieve the above object, the command code corresponding to a shortcut key of the application menu and the numeric code of the remote control is mapped to a number-shortcut key mapping table, The command code for the numeric key is converted into the command code for the shortcut key with reference to the controller for processing the remote control signal transmitted from the remote controller to obtain a command code for the numeric key and the number-shortcut key mapping table. And a number-short key converting unit, wherein a corresponding operation of the application program is performed according to the converted command code.

In addition, the application control method using a remote control according to an embodiment of the present invention to achieve the above object outputting the execution window of the application and the menu-number mapping viewer for the application, from the remote control signal transmitted from the remote control Obtaining a command code for a numeric key, converting the command code for the numeric key into a command code corresponding to a shortcut key of the menu, and executing a command corresponding to the converted command code.

Specific details of other embodiments are included in the detailed description and drawings, and the advantages and features of the present invention and methods for achieving them will be apparent with reference to the embodiments described below in detail with the accompanying drawings.

However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below, but may be embodied in various different forms, and the present embodiments merely make the disclosure of the present invention complete and common knowledge in the technical field to which the present invention belongs. It is provided to fully inform the person having the scope of the invention, which is defined only by the scope of the claims. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout.

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

The present invention can be applied to an electronic device using a remote controller (hereinafter referred to as a remote controller) as an injection force device, such as a digital TV, or can be applied to a device using a keyboard, a mouse, or the like as a computer. Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to a digital TV.

The digital TV according to an embodiment of the present invention processes the remote control 200 for remote control of the digital TV, the remote control signal generated from the remote control 200 and the broadcast signal transmitted from the broadcasting station to visually process the result. And a digital broadcast receiver 300 for outputting.

2 illustrates a structure of a remote controller 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the remote controller 200 includes a key input unit 210, a memory unit 240, a control unit 230, a remote control signal generator 220, and a remote control signal transmitter 250. The function and operation process of each part are as follows.

The key input unit 210 is a part for receiving a user's command, and includes a plurality of numeric keys and function keys to input a command such as program channel change, program recording, and playback. The keys provided in the key input unit 210 generate a key signal and provide the key signal to the controller 230.

The controller 230 generates a command code corresponding to the input key signal and provides the command code to the remote control signal generator 220.

The remote control signal generator 220 generates a remote control signal including a command code and transmits the remote control signal through the remote control signal transmitter 250.

Next, FIG. 3 schematically shows the configuration of the digital broadcast receiver 300 according to the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the digital broadcast receiver 300 includes a broadcast signal receiver 301, a demodulator 302, a demultiplexer 303, a voice decoder 304, an image decoder 306, a remote control signal. The receiver 320, a controller 330, and a key conversion module 340 are included.

The broadcast signal receiver 301 may include an RF antenna that detects a broadcast signal from the air, and a tuner that tunes a signal of a desired channel among various broadcast signals and converts the tuned signal into an intermediate frequency. If the cable broadcast is received, the RF antenna may be replaced by the signal input end of the cable modem.

The demodulator 302 restores a transport stream from the signal provided by the tuner, and supplies the recovered transport stream to the demultiplexer 303.

The demultiplexer 303 extracts audio data and video data from the transport stream input through the tuner, and supplies them to the audio decoder 304 and the video decoder 306, respectively.

The voice decoder 304 decodes the inputted voice data, generates program voice data, and supplies it to the voice processor 305. The audio processing unit 305 outputs audio through the amplifier after processing the predetermined audio signal.

The video decoder 306 decodes the video data, generates program video data, and supplies the same to the video processor 307. The image processing unit 307 applies predetermined processing to the input program image data and outputs an image.

The remote control signal receiver 320 operates in pairs with the remote controller 200. When the remote control signal transmitted from the remote controller 200 is received, the remote control signal receiver 320 converts the received remote control signal into an electrical signal and provides it to the controller 330.

The controller 330 controls the components in the receiver 300 according to a user's command. In addition, the remote control signal receiving unit 320 processes the signal provided to obtain a command code included in the remote control signal.

In addition to the above components, the digital broadcast receiver 300 according to the embodiment of the present invention further includes a key conversion module 340. The key conversion module 340 includes a number-short key mapping table and a number-short key conversion unit 341, which will be described later in the embodiments of the present invention.

The key conversion module 340 according to the present invention may be implemented separately from the application program or as part of the application program. Hereinafter, in the embodiment of the present invention, a case in which the key conversion module 340 is implemented separately from the application program and a case in which the key conversion module 340 is implemented as part of the application program will be described.

First, a case in which the key conversion module 340 is implemented separately from an application program according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described.

The number-shortcut key mapping table refers to a table to which a shortcut key command of an application program and a numeric key combination of the remote controller 200 are mapped. For example, applications such as Notepad provide menus such as File, Edit, Format, and Help, which have Alt + F, Alt + E, and Alt, respectively. Shortcut commands + O, Alt + H are assigned. The File menu also provides submenus such as New, Open, Save, Save As, Page Setup, Print, and Exit. Are assigned shortcut commands Ctrl + N, Ctrl + O, Ctrl + S, Alt + F + A, Alt + F + U, Ctrl + P, and Alt + F + X respectively.

According to the present invention, the numeric key combinations of the remote controller 200 can be mapped to these shortcut commands. For example, the shortcut key Ctrl + N in the [File] menu can be mapped to the number key 1 on the remote control. In addition, a number key of the remote controller 200 may be mapped to Ctrl + O which is a shortcut command of [Open] in the [File] menu.

In this way, the numeric key combination of the remote controller can be mapped to the shortcut key of each menu. Table 1 illustrates a number-shortcut key mapping table that can be applied to an application program, for example, 'notepad' according to the present invention.

menu Shortcut Numeric Key Combinations on the Remote Control File-New Ctrl + N One File-open Ctrl + O 2 File-save Ctrl + S 3 File-Save As Alt + F + A 4 File-Page Setup Alt + F + U 5 File-Print Ctrl + P 6 File-Exit Alt + F + X 7 Edit-Undo Ctrl + Z 8 ... ... ... Help-Help Topics Alt + H 21 Help-Notepad Information Alt + H + A 22

<Table 1> is an example of a number-shortcut key mapping table for 'Notepad'. However, the functions and menus supported by each application may vary, so the shortcut keys assigned to each menu may be different. Therefore, it is desirable to create a number-shortcut key mapping table as shown in Table 1 for each application. This mapping table is also stored in the memory unit 342 for future reference by the number-shortcut converter 341.

On the other hand, the number-short key converting unit 341 shows menu-number mapping information for the application through a separate viewer when the application is executed. For example, when the 'notepad' is executed, as shown in FIG. 4, the menu-number mapping viewer 420 for the 'notepad' is output.

As shown in FIG. 4, when the menu-number mapping viewer 420 is output, the user controls the 'notepad' by applying a numeric key of the remote controller 200 based on the information displayed in the menu-number mapping viewer 420. can do.

Subsequently, when the remote control signal of the remote controller 200 is received through the remote control signal receiver 320, the number-short key converting unit 341 refers to the number-short key mapping table, and obtains a command code for a numeric key. By converting the command code corresponding to the shortcut, the command corresponding to the shortcut is passed to the application.

5 is a flowchart illustrating an application program control process using the remote controller 200 when the key conversion module 340 is implemented separately from the application program according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

For example, when the application executes the 'notepad' (S500), the viewer 420 including menu-number mapping information on the 'notepad' is output together with the execution window 410 (S510). That is, the menu-number mapping viewer 420 as shown in FIG. 4 is output.

When the menu-number mapping viewer 420 for the 'notepad' is output, the user applies a numeric key corresponding to the desired menu based on the information of the menu-number mapping viewer 420 (S520). For example, if you want to open the stored file, apply the numeric key [2] in the remote control (200).

When the numeric key [2] is applied, the control unit 230 of the remote control 200 generates a command code for the numeric key [2] and provides it to the remote control signal generator 220 (S530).

Next, the remote control signal generator 220 refers to the mapping table stored in the memory unit 240 and generates a remote control signal including a command code for the numeric key [2] (S540). . Thereafter, the remote control signal is transmitted through the remote control signal transmitter 250 (S550).

On the other hand, the remote control signal transmitted from the remote control 200 is received by the remote control signal receiver 320 of the digital broadcast receiver 300 (S560). The remote control signal receiver 320 converts the received signal into an electrical signal and provides the converted signal to the controller 330.

Thereafter, the control unit 330 obtains a command code, that is, a command code for the numeric key [2], from the signal provided from the remote control signal receiving unit 320, and converts the command code for the numeric key [2] to number-shortcut key conversion. It is provided to the unit 341 (S570).

Subsequently, the number-shortcut key converting unit 341 refers to the number-shortcut key mapping table stored in the memory unit 342, and corresponds to a shortcut code mapped to the command code provided by the controller 330, that is, Ctrl + O. The command code is converted into a command code (S580). Then, the command code corresponding to the shortcut is delivered to the 'notepad', and as a result, the file open execution window is output (S590).

Next, a case in which the key conversion module 340 is implemented as part of an application program according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

In this case, for example, the number-shortcut mapping table for 'Notepad' includes mapping information for the shortcut menu of the parent menu and the submenu of 'Notepad', as shown in <Table 2>, or <Table As shown in 3>, only mapping information of the shortcut command of the upper menu may be included.

menu Shortcut Numeric Key Combinations on the Remote Control file Alt + F One File-New Ctrl + N 11 File-open Ctrl + O 12 File-save Ctrl + S 13 File-Save As Alt + F + A 14 File-Page Setup Alt + F + U 15 File-Print Ctrl + P 16 File-Exit Alt + F + X 17 ... ... ... Help Alt + H + A 4 Help-Help Topics Alt + H 41 Help-Notepad Information Alt + H + A 42

Top menu Shortcut Numeric Key Combinations on the Remote Control file Alt + F One edit Alt + E 2 Format Alt + O 3 Help Alt + H 4

When the key converting module 340 is implemented as part of a program, the key converting module 340 may provide a UI mode for remote controller input so that the key converting module 340 may be selectively output by the user.

For example, when the remote control input UI mode is not set, as shown in the related art, the execution window 100 displaying shortcut information of each menu is displayed along with the menu of 'Notepad', and the UI mode for remote control input is displayed. If set, as shown in Figure 6a, outputs the execution window 600 for the remote control input. At this time. The execution window 600 for inputting the remote controller outputs the numbers 610, 620, 630, and 640 mapped to the shortcut keys at positions where the shortcut information of the menu is displayed.

As shown in FIG. 6A, when the user presses the numeric key [1] of the remote controller 200 while the execution window 600 for remote controller input is output, the [File] menu is selected and the [File] menu is selected. The submenu of is displayed.

At this time, if the number-short key mapping table is as shown in <Table 2>, when the submenu of the [File] menu is displayed, as shown in FIG. 6B, numbers 615 and 617 mapped to each submenu are shown. Is displayed.

If the number-short key mapping table is as shown in Table 3, when the submenu of the [File] menu is displayed, it is displayed as shown in FIG. 6C. In this case, the user may select a lower part of the [File] menu by operating a direction key or the like implemented in the remote controller 200.

As such, when the key conversion module 340 is implemented as part of an application program to provide a UI mode for remote controller input, a flowchart of an application program control using the remote controller 200 is shown in FIG. 7.

First, when executing the 'notepad' (S710), the controller 330 determines whether the UI mode for the remote control input is set (S712). As a result of the determination, if the UI mode for remote controller input is not set, the execution window 100 including the menu of the 'notepad' and the shortcut information for the menu are output as in the related art.

As a result of the determination, if the UI mode for the remote control input is set, as shown in FIG. 6A, the execution window 600 switched to the UI mode for the remote control input, that is, the execution window 600 including the menu of the 'notepad' and the menu execution number. It outputs (S714).

Next, the user selects a desired upper menu by operating the numeric keys of the remote controller 200 (S720). For example, when the [File] menu is to be selected, the numeric key [1] of the remote controller 200 is applied.

When the numeric key [1] is applied, the control unit 230 of the remote controller 200 generates a command code for the numeric key [1] and provides it to the remote control signal generator 220 (S722).

Next, the remote control signal generator 220 refers to the mapping table stored in the memory unit 240 and generates a remote control signal including a command code for the numeric key [1] (S724). Thereafter, the remote control signal is transmitted through the remote control signal transmitter 250 (S726).

Meanwhile, the remote control signal receiver 320 of the digital broadcast receiver 300 receives the remote control signal transmitted from the remote controller 200, converts the remote control signal into an electrical signal, and provides the converted signal to the controller 330 (S730).

Thereafter, the controller 330 obtains a command code, that is, a command code for the numeric key [1] from the received remote control signal, and provides the command code to the number-short key converting unit 341 (S732).

The number-short key converting unit 341 refers to the number-short key mapping table stored in the memory unit 342 and converts the command code for the numeric key [1] to a shortcut key mapped to the command code, that is, Atl + F. Convert to the corresponding command code (S734).

Then, the command code corresponding to Atl + F is delivered to the 'notepad'. As a result, the [File] menu is selected and a submenu for the [File] menu is output as shown in FIG. 6B (S736).

In this way, when the upper menu is selected and the lower menu for the selected upper menu is output, the user operates a numeric key corresponding to the lower menu to execute a desired operation (S740). For example, if you want to end the currently running 'notepad', apply the numeric keys [1] and [7] of the remote control (200).

When the numeric keys [1] and [7] are applied, the controller 230 generates a command code corresponding to each key signal (S742), and the remote control signal generator 220 remotely includes the command code. The control signal is generated (S744) and transmitted through the remote control signal transmitter 250 (S746).

On the other hand, the remote control signal receiver 320 receives the remote control signal transmitted from the remote control 200, converts it into an electrical signal, and provides it to the control unit 330 (S750).

Thereafter, the control unit 330 obtains a command code included in the received signal and provides the command code to the number-short key converting unit 341 (S752), and the number-short key converting unit 341 according to the number-short key mapping table. In operation S754, the command code for the numeric key 17 is converted into the corresponding shortcut command. In other words, the command code corresponds to Alt + F + X.

After that, the command code corresponding to Alt + F + X is delivered to the 'notepad', and as a result, the notepad is terminated (S756).

With reference to the drawings illustrated as above, a method and apparatus for controlling an application using a remote control according to the present invention has been described, but the present invention is not limited by the embodiments and drawings disclosed herein, the description of the invention Of course, various modifications may be made by those skilled in the art within the spirit and scope.

As described above, according to the method and apparatus for controlling an application program using the remote control according to the present invention, there are one or more of the following effects.                     

First, an application suitable for an input environment such as a keyboard or a mouse can be controlled by a remote controller.

Secondly, in an electronic device having a remote control as an injection force device, there is an advantage that an application program can be controlled without separately implementing a UI for remote control input.

Claims (5)

A number-shortcut key mapping table in which a command code corresponding to a shortcut key of an application menu and a command code for a numeric key of a remote controller are mapped; A controller for processing a remote control signal transmitted from the remote controller to obtain a command code for the numeric key; And A number-shortcut key converting unit for converting a command code for the numeric key into a command code for the hotkey by referring to the number-shortcut key mapping table, App control device using a remote control to perform a corresponding operation of the application program according to the converted command code. The method of claim 1, wherein the number-shortcut conversion unit, And a menu-number mapping viewer including a menu of the application and an execution number for the menu, when the application is executed according to the information of the number-short key mapping table. The method of claim 1, wherein the number-shortcut conversion unit, Optionally providing a user interface mode for the remote control input, and when selecting the user interface mode for the remote control input, outputs a menu of the application and the execution window including the execution number for the menu, the application control device using a remote control . Outputting an execution window of an application program and a menu-number mapping viewer for the application program; Obtaining a command code for a numeric key from a remote control signal transmitted from a remote controller; Converting a command code for the numeric key into a command code corresponding to a shortcut key of the menu; And And executing a command corresponding to the converted command code. Outputting a menu of an application program and an execution window including the menu execution number according to whether a UI mode for remote control input is set; Obtaining a command code for a numeric key from a remote control signal transmitted from a remote controller; Converting a command code for the numeric key into a command code corresponding to a shortcut key of the menu; And And executing a command corresponding to the converted command code.

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