KR100806502B1 - Function menu search method through character input in wireless telecommunication terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

1. TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a function-specific menu search method through text input in a mobile communication terminal.

2. The technical problem to be solved by the invention

The present invention provides a menu search for searching and executing a function-specific menu displayed in groups according to the letter (menu index) using the input letter even when the user does not know the menu when searching for a menu on the portable mobile communication terminal. To provide a way.

3. Summary of the Solution of the Invention

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of searching a menu in a portable mobile communication terminal for displaying a user selection menu, the method comprising: a user menu table configured to correspond to a corresponding character and a menu by using a character representing an function of each menu as an index; step; A second step of receiving text from a user; Displaying a menu that can use the text on a screen; A fourth step of sending a call to the telephone number mapped to the character (name) in the displayed menu screen; A fifth step of transmitting the character (string) to a corresponding destination in the displayed menu screen according to a user's request; And a sixth step of searching the user menu table using the input characters as an index on the displayed menu screen, reading out a corresponding menu, and displaying the corresponding menu on the screen.

4. Important uses of the invention

The present invention is used for menu search of a mobile communication terminal.

Menu Search, Text, Mobile Device, Text Switch Button

Description

Function menu search method through character input in wireless telecommunication terminal}             

1A to 1C are diagrams illustrating a configuration of a user menu table according to the prior art.

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

3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of searching for a function-specific menu through text input according to the present invention.

4A to 4C are diagrams illustrating one embodiment of a function-specific user menu table according to the present invention;

* Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawing

21: control unit 22: voice memory

23: key input 24: display (LCD)

25: RF unit 26: ring tone generator

27: voice processing unit

The present invention relates to a function-specific menu search method through text input in a mobile communication terminal. More specifically, when a user inputs a required character (name, text message, function-specific menu item, etc.) by pressing a character switch button when searching for a menu, It will either go directly to "Call me" or "Send text message" or it will show a function-specific menu displayed in groups according to the text (menu index).

A commonly used portable mobile communication terminal includes a user information input unit for inputting user information and a display device for displaying the input information and schedule information in a visible state. Examples of such information processing devices include digital portable telephones (cellular phones), electronic notebooks, personal digital assistants (PCS phones), and the like. Such portable mobile communication terminals usually perform user information processing and perform various functions according to a user's request. The methods commonly used in the method of performing such functions are to perform an operation of a corresponding function according to a menu selection input. There is a way. This is done by designating a menu corresponding to a predetermined function and then displaying a designated menu according to a predetermined request input so that when a user selects the menu, a predetermined function according to the selected menu is performed. In addition, recently, if a function is required to be performed by the user by iconizing each menu, the corresponding icon selection is made accordingly, and the function is performed by selecting the icon accordingly. The proposed method is to further increase the convenience of.

By the way, although a plurality of menus provided to the user of the portable mobile communication terminal are provided, in practice, only a few menus are frequently used based on user characteristics. Each of the plurality of menus includes a plurality of submenus, and when a menu desired by a user is implemented in the submenu, the user may have to perform a plurality of key input operations.

In the conventional portable mobile communication terminal as described above, the problem of the menu selection method for performing the function will be described with reference to FIGS. 1A to 1C.

In the displayed menu, the user selects a required menu, checks the selection of the corresponding menu, and selects the selected menu repeatedly to perform the corresponding function.

In general, menus using texts in currently used mobile communication terminals are a phone number search and a text message, and these are set by a shortcut key, and then a necessary number is input after selecting a phone number search and text message menu item. (See FIGS. 1A and 1B). In addition, in order to find a specific function, the menu button was pressed and the corresponding button was found and selected (see FIG. 1C).

FIG. 1A illustrates a case where the phone book is set as a shortcut key, and the sub-menu is sequentially navigated by pressing “Phone book shortcut” (Find phone number → find by name). FIG. 1B shows a text message as a shortcut key. Pressing the "Text Message Shortcut" will navigate through the submenus in sequence (Send Message-> Write Text). In addition, Figure 1c shows the case of sequentially searching for a specific function by pressing the menu button (sound setting → message reception sound), respectively.

Typically, in order to use text in a mobile communication terminal, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, when the phone book button 111 or the text message button 121 is pressed, the main menus 112 and 122 are shown, and the main menus 112 and 122 are shown. ), Select the item to use text (Find 112 phone number, send message to 122), and each sub menu (113,123) comes out again, where you can enter text (Search by name 113, 123) Character must be entered).

On the other hand, in order to perform a specific function (for example, a message reception sound setting), the menu button 131 must be pressed and an item performing the corresponding function must be found through several selection steps 132 and 133. That is, as shown in FIG. 1C, in order for the user to set the "message reception sound" through the portable mobile communication terminal, the main menu, for example, "sound setting (assuming main menu index 1)", "electronic notebook" (Main Menu Index 2), “Mobile Phone Management (Main Menu Index 3)”, and “Screen Settings (Main Menu Index 4)”, and then select Sound Setting Menu with Main Menu Index 1, and then select Submenu of Sound Setting Menu. , For example, sub-menu index 3 of "Bell / Vibration / Size (assume sub menu index 1)", "Set beep sound (sub menu index 2)", and "Set message reception sound (sub menu index 3)" It is possible to set the message reception sound only by selecting the message reception sound setting menu.                         

If in Figure 1c already knows the combination key (shortcut key) for the "message reception sound", press the combination key "Menu + 1 (main menu index) + 3 (sub-menu index)" to immediately enter the menu (message reception sound). You can also go. However, in reality, it is impossible to memorize all of these combination keys (shortcut keys), and although a shortcut key may be used by referring to the user manual, it is also impossible to carry the user manual all the time, which is not surprising for a portable mobile terminal user. Should be targeted.

Therefore, the conventional portable mobile terminal user has a hassle to input a plurality of keys in order to select a menu that he or she wants to execute (particularly in the case of a menu frequently used by the user), and also for menu selection. There was a problem of searching for a large number of unnecessary other menus. This can cause inconvenience in using a fast function, especially portable mobile communication terminals that need to perform user information processing quickly in a portable state, and advanced terminals having a complicated menu structure (preferably IMT). In the case of -2000 terminal, etc.), the menu selection according to the conventional method adds more inconvenience to the user. That is, if the selection input is performed several times when the menu is selected according to the execution of the function as described above, the execution of the function that emphasizes promptness results in a problem of delaying the execution time of the function.

As described above, in order to perform one function in the portable mobile communication terminal, the user selects a menu screen and performs a function through at least several key operations. As a result, some trial and error is inevitable unless the user has a manual or knows where the desired function is located.

In other words, the execution of the conventional menu command was a method of using the navigation keys and the OK button according to the tree structure of the menu in a limited display space, but this method finds the same place as the inconvenience each time the user needs to look into what menu exists. The repeatability to go has been inevitable. Of course, the execution of some special menus has been determined by international standards and manufacturers (combinations of numbers and special characters), but the method is very difficult to remember and is somewhat inconsistent and almost useless to the user. The reality is that

Therefore, it is possible to search and execute a user's desired menu easily and quickly, especially in portable mobile communication terminals that need to perform user information processing quickly in a portable state and advanced terminals having a complicated menu structure (preferably IMT-2000 terminal, etc.). It is essential to have a plan to make it work.

The present invention has been proposed in order to meet the above-mentioned demands, and is used to group groups according to the characters (menu index) by using the input characters even when the user does not know the menu when searching for the menu on the portable mobile communication terminal. An object of the present invention is to provide a menu search method for searching and executing a function-specific menu.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a menu search method in a portable mobile communication terminal displaying a user selection menu, wherein a character representing a function of each menu is used as an index, and the user menu is associated with the corresponding character. A first step of constructing a table; A second step of receiving text from a user; Displaying a menu that can use the text on a screen; A fourth step of sending a call to the telephone number mapped to the character (name) in the displayed menu screen; A fifth step of transmitting the character (string) to a corresponding destination in the displayed menu screen according to a user's request; And a sixth step of searching the user menu table using the input characters as an index on the displayed menu screen, reading the corresponding menu, and displaying the corresponding menu on the screen. .

The present invention, instead of the menu search of the terminal using the existing navigation keys, according to the "call", "send a text message", other characters (menu index) through a specific input character (name, text message, function menu items, etc.) The user interface is improved by searching and executing function-specific menus displayed in groups. That is, the present invention provides a simple up-down menu search using method provided by a narrow display of a portable mobile communication terminal, when a character is input "call" or "find by the name of the phone book", "send a text message", the corresponding character By presenting the menu items for each function, the user can reduce the number of key presses and present an intuitive way of understanding the device. Accordingly, the present invention can be extended to a search method that is not provided in a web browser of a portable mobile communication terminal.

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.

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

The control unit 20 of the mobile communication terminal controls the overall operation of the terminal and at the same time controls the menu search method according to the present invention. Then, control of various components provided is achieved.

The voice memory 21 stores various voice data.

The memory 22 stores an operation program and a system program of the control unit 20, and the operation program and the system program are stored in a ROM region which is usually included and can be erased as necessary. Electrically erasable ROMs include EEPROM and flash memory. The memory 22 also includes RAM for temporarily storing data generated during execution of various operating programs.

The memory 22 has menu index data for each function (for example, time, sound, etc.), menu item data (main menu data), item-related word data (sub-menu data), and combination key (shortcut key) data corresponding to menu items. Etc. are stored. A more detailed description thereof will be described with reference to FIGS. 4A to 4C.

The key input unit 23 includes a plurality of numeric keys, menu keys, and function keys for performing various functions, and outputs key data to the control unit 20 by an external operation.

In particular, the key input unit 23 is provided with a character switching button, the position of the character switching button (character input button, the character end button) is the existing keypad (0-9, *, #), navigation keys, function keys, side One of the arrow keys may be set for the character change button or a separate key may be added to the terminal.

As shown in FIG. 4A, after pressing the character switching button (character input button) (411), inputting characters (name, text message, menu index item for each function, etc.) (412), and character switching button (character ending button) Pressing again (413) displays a selection menu (e.g., making a call, sending a text message, finding a menu, searching by name in the phone book, etc.).

If you enter a name, if you select "Call" or "Find by phone book name", the information is sent to the phone number mapped to the name or registered phone number.

In addition, if a text message is entered, it can also be sent immediately to the destination by selecting "Send a text message".

On the other hand, if a function-specific menu index is entered, for example, even if the "call volume" submenu is not accurately known, the user may at least have a degree of "call volume" menu as a submenu (submenu) of the "volume control" main menu. Even if you have knowledge, you can search for the "Volume Control" main menu using "Sound" as the menu index, and search for the desired "Call Volume" submenu in "Tell Ring Volume", "Keytone Volume", and "Call Volume" as its submenu. (See FIG. 4B).                     

In Fig. 4B, the main menu and its submenus are constructed using the menu function as an index. That is, the main menu "Time Management", "Alarm", "Schedule Management" items, etc. are configured with the menu index "Time", and the "Call Time View" and "Current Time Setting" are used as sub menus of the Main Menu "Time Management". An item, etc., a "wake-up call", an "alarm clock" item, etc. as a submenu of the main menu "alarm", and a "calendar" item, etc. as a sub-menu of the main menu "schedule management". Then, the menu index "Sound" constitutes the main menu "Volume Control" item, and the sub-menu configures "Tell Ring Volume", "Keytone Volume", "Call Volume" items, and the like. That is, "sound" is used as a common menu index of "volume adjustment", and "time" is used as a common menu index of "time management", "alarm", and "schedule management".

However, since the configuration of the user search table as shown in FIG. 4B must additionally be accompanied by the search of the lower menu, users may be somewhat inconvenienced, but at least evolved terminals having a complicated menu structure (preferably IMT-2000 terminals, etc.). ) Avoids the waste of time spent searching only the main menu. In other words, you can avoid the inconvenience of having to look through each menu and repeatability to go to the same place every time.

Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 4C, the submenu of the main menu may be configured using the menu function as an index. That is, the menu index " time " configures submenus " call time ", " current time setting ", " wake call ", " alarm clock ", " calendar " Submenus " tele ring volume ", " keytone volume ", " call volume " That is, "Time" is used as the common menu index of "View call time", "Set current time", "Wake-up call", "Alarm clock", and "Calendar", and "Phone ring volume", "Keytone volume", "Call" Use "Sound" as the common menu index for "Volume".

The display unit 24 is a display device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) and the like, and displays the state of the mobile communication terminal or the progress of the program under the control of the control unit 20. That is, the overall state of the mobile communication terminal and input user information are displayed.

Accordingly, the controller 20 reads the menu from the memory 22 and displays the menu on the display unit 24 in response to a user's menu display request by the key input unit 23. That is, the key input unit 23 is a conventional user information input means, and has a plurality of keys suitable for a mobile communication terminal to be applied, such as a number of numeric keys and function keys, and if there is an input of each of the provided keys, Therefore, by outputting the corresponding unique key data to the control unit 20, through the key input operation of the key input unit 23 to enter the menu display mode and selection of the menu is made. Then, the controller 20 reads the menu according to the corresponding key input from the memory 22 and displays the menu on the display unit 24.

The RF unit 25 is controlled by the controller 20 and converts a signal output from the controller 20 into a wireless signal. In addition, the RF unit 25 converts the radio signal received through the antenna into a desired signal and outputs it.

The ring tone generator 26 generates a sound by the speaker under the control of the controller 20.

The voice processing unit 27 modulates the voice signal input from the microphone and converts the voice signal into voice data, and demodulates the voice data input from the RF unit 25 and the voice data stored in the voice memory 21 into voice signals. Sound is output through speaker.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of searching for a function-specific menu through text input according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 3, in the method of searching for a function-specific menu through text input according to the present invention, first, in a display initial screen state (301), after pressing a letter switch button (character input button) as shown in FIG. 4A. (302) Enter a character (name, text message, menu index item for each function, etc.) (303), press the character switch button (end character button) again (304), the menu screen for each function (for example, dialing, text Send message, find menu, find by phonebook name, etc.) appears (305).

In the function-specific menu screen (305), if the user selects the "call" item, the call is sent to the telephone number mapped to the character (name) input in step "303" (307). Then, in the function-specific menu screen (305), when the user selects "Find by name of phone book", it immediately shows information such as a phone number registered in the name (308).

On the other hand, in the menu screen for each function (305), if the user selects "send text message", the character string input in step "303" is immediately transmitted to the destination (309).

On the other hand, in the menu screen for each function (305), when the user selects "Menu Search", a menu search loop is executed to search for a function-specific menu of the text (function menu index) input in step "303" in the menu search mode. If there is no searched menu (310), an error is output (311), and if there is a searched result as a normal search result (310), a menu corresponding to the corresponding menu index is output and help is output (312).

Next, if the user wants to execute the menu (313), the menu is executed, and if the menu has a submenu as the main menu, the submenu is displayed (314). Of course, the main menu may be an execution menu. However, if the menu is a submenu serving as an execution menu, the submenu can be executed immediately.

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.

As described above, the present invention relates to a portable mobile communication terminal which performs a corresponding function designated in advance through user input information, particularly a portable mobile communication terminal which performs information processing function requested by a user by a menu method. It is easier to find and can perform the function more quickly when performing the corresponding function according to the menu selection, and when applied to the portable mobile communication terminal having the characteristic of performing the function quickly in the portable state such as the mobile terminal There is an advantage that can be doubled.

Claims (3)

A menu search method in a portable mobile communication terminal displaying a user selection menu, A first step of constructing a user menu table such that the corresponding characters and the menu correspond to each other as an index of a character representing a function of each menu; A second step of receiving text from a user; Displaying a menu that can use the text on a screen; A fourth step of sending a call to the telephone number mapped to the character (name) in the displayed menu screen; A fifth step of transmitting the character (string) to a corresponding destination in the displayed menu screen according to a user's request; And A sixth step of searching for the user menu table using the input characters as an index on the displayed menu screen, reading a corresponding menu, and displaying the corresponding menu on the screen; Menu search method by function through the character input in the mobile communication terminal comprising a. The method of claim 1, A seventh step of reading the information registered in the corresponding character (name) from the displayed menu screen and displaying it on the screen according to a user's request; Menu search method by function through the character input in the mobile communication terminal further comprising. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The character is A method of searching for a function-specific menu by inputting a character in a mobile communication terminal, comprising: a proper noun including a name capable of characterizing a phone number, a string, and a menu index for searching a menu displayed as a group according to a meaning.

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