KR101495029B1 - Apparatus and method for managing multi application of portable terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a multi-application management apparatus and method for a portable terminal.

A multi-application management apparatus of a portable terminal according to the present invention generates an image by capturing a final screen of each of a plurality of applications executed in advance, and combines each image and execution information of each of a plurality of applications to generate a plurality of thumbnail files A screen management unit for displaying a plurality of thumbnail files on the screen, and an application control unit for activating an application corresponding to the selected thumbnail file when one of the plurality of thumbnail files is selected.

Multi-application

Description

[0001] APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MANAGING MULTI APPLICATION OF PORTABLE TERMINAL [0002]

The present invention relates to a multi-application management apparatus and method for a mobile terminal capable of managing a plurality of executed applications in a mobile terminal capable of executing a plurality of applications.

Multi-tasking means executing or processing two or more tasks at the same time in one terminal.

A mobile terminal capable of multitasking is capable of executing a plurality of applications, so that a user interface is required to select an application of one of a plurality of running applications.

In particular, since the screen size of the portable terminal is smaller than that of a general desktop computer or a notebook computer, it is difficult to display identification information capable of identifying each of a plurality of running applications on the screen.

Accordingly, there is a need for a technique capable of efficiently selecting a desired application so that a plurality of applications that are being executed can be sequentially selected and executed to select an application to be operated.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a method and system for generating a thumbnail file by capturing a screen of each of a plurality of executed applications, linking each captured screen with execution information of each application, And a method for managing a plurality of applications of a portable terminal, which enables a user to easily select one of the plurality of applications.

Accordingly, the multi-application management apparatus of the portable terminal according to the present invention can capture an end screen of each of a plurality of previously executed applications to generate an image, combine the respective images with execution information of each of the plurality of applications, A thumbnail generating unit for generating a thumbnail file of the thumbnail; A screen management unit for displaying the plurality of thumbnail files on a screen; And an application control unit activating an application corresponding to the selected thumbnail file when one of the plurality of thumbnail files is selected.

The thumbnail file is created in an Extensible Markup Language (XML).

And an application management unit for storing and managing execution information of the application including unique information and operation information of each of the plurality of applications.

The application control unit activates the application and deletes a thumbnail file corresponding to the activated application from the thumbnail generation unit.

When the activated application is terminated, the application control unit displays one or more thumbnail files other than the deleted thumbnail file on the screen.

The application control unit controls the thumbnail generation unit to generate a thumbnail file of the activated application when an execution command for another application is input while the activated application is not terminated.

The screen management unit divides the screen into the number of the thumbnail files and displays the plurality of thumbnail files on the divided screen.

In another example, the screen management unit causes each of the plurality of thumbnail files to overlap with each other, so that the plurality of thumbnail files are displayed on the screen.

And the screen is a touch screen.

Meanwhile, a multi-application management method of a portable terminal according to the present invention comprises: capturing a final screen of each of a plurality of executed applications to generate an image; combining the images with execution information of each of the plurality of applications to generate a plurality of A first step of generating a thumbnail file; And a second step of displaying the plurality of thumbnail files on the screen and activating an application corresponding to the selected thumbnail file when one of the plurality of thumbnail files is selected.

The execution information of the application includes unique information and operation information of each of the plurality of applications, and each of the plurality of thumbnail files displayed on the screen displays the unique information of the application and the image of the application together .

And deleting the thumbnail file corresponding to the activated application.

When the activated application is terminated, the step of displaying one or more thumbnail files other than the deleted thumbnail file on the screen is further performed.

If an execution command for another application is inputted while the activated application is not terminated, an image is generated by capturing the last screen of the activated application, and the created image is combined with execution information of the activated application And generating a thumbnail file.

The step of displaying the plurality of thumbnail files on the screen in the second step may further include the step of dividing the screen by the number of the thumbnail files.

As another example, in the step of displaying the plurality of thumbnail files on the screen in the second step, a plurality of thumbnail files are displayed on the screen by overlapping a part of each of the plurality of thumbnail files.

Therefore, according to the present invention, a screen of each of a plurality of executed applications is captured, and a thumbnail file that associates the captured image with execution information of each application is displayed on the screen, so that the user can view each application executed through each thumbnail file And can directly select and activate an application desired to be operated.

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

In the following description of the present invention, detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may make the subject matter of the present invention rather unclear.

1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a multi-application management apparatus of a portable terminal according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the multi-application management apparatus includes a thumbnail generating unit 110, a screen managing unit 120, an application managing unit 130, and an application controlling unit 140. The portable terminal to which the multi-application management apparatus according to the present invention is applied is most preferably a mobile communication terminal. However, the portable terminal may be a PMP (Portable Multimedia Player), a PDA (Personal Digital Assistants), a PSP (Play Station Portable) (MPEG Audio Layer-3) device.

The thumbnail generating unit 110 captures the last screen of each of the plurality of executed applications and generates an image. The thumbnail generating unit 110 combines the generated images with execution information of each of a plurality of applications managed by the application manager 130 Thereby generating a plurality of thumbnail files.

At this time, the image is generated so as to have an extension of Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG), Graphics Interchange Format (GIF), Portable Network Graphics (PNG) or BMP (Bit MaP), and the thumbnail file is created in Extensible Markup Language : XML). In addition, the plurality of executed applications include an application that has been suspended for a while (hereinafter referred to as a 'deactivated application') and a currently running application (hereinafter referred to as an 'activated application').

When one or more disabled applications exist and a specific key or a specific command for managing multitasking is selected in a state where the activated application is displayed on the screen, the thumbnail generating unit 110 generates a plurality of And transmits the thumbnail file to the screen management unit 120.

On the other hand, the thumbnail generating unit 110 may generate a thumbnail file of a specific application under the control of the application control unit 140. An explanation thereof will be described later.

The screen management unit 120 divides the screen into a plurality of thumbnail files generated by the thumbnail generation unit 110 according to the number of thumbnail files, and sequentially displays a plurality of thumbnail files on the divided screens Or a reverse order of the execution order), or a part of the thumbnail file may be overlapped with each other so that a plurality of thumbnail files are displayed on the screen.

When a part of the thumbnail file is overlapped, the screen of the portable terminal to which the multitasking apparatus according to the present invention is applied is preferably a touch screen so that the user can more easily select the thumbnail file displayed on the screen.

The application management unit 130 stores and manages unique information (unique name) of each application, and manages operation information (progress information being executed) of the executed application. In order for the executed application to be in the inactive state and become active, unique information and operation information of the application are required. The unique information and the operation information of the application are called execution information of the application.

When one of the plurality of thumbnail files displayed on the screen is selected, the application control unit 140 activates the application corresponding to the selected thumbnail file. When the application is activated, the thumbnail generating unit 110 generates a thumbnail file corresponding to the activated application, .

On the other hand, if an execution command for another application is inputted while the activated application is not completed (terminated), the application control unit 140 executes and activates another application, controls the thumbnail generation unit 110, Captures the last screen of the application whose application 110 has not been completed to generate an image, and generates a thumbnail file by combining the generated image and execution information of the application (uncompleted application).

When the activated application is terminated, the application control unit 140 controls the thumbnail generation unit 110 and the screen management unit 120 to display one or more previously generated thumbnail files on the screen. At this time, since the thumbnail file of the finished application is activated and deleted, the thumbnail file of the finished application is excluded and the thumbnail files generated before are displayed on the screen.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a multi-application management method for a portable terminal according to the present invention. 3A is a diagram illustrating a plurality of applications executed on a screen of a portable terminal to illustrate the present invention. FIG. 3B is a diagram illustrating a plurality of thumbnail files displayed on a screen of a portable terminal Fig.

Hereinafter, a multi-application management method in a mobile terminal to which the multi-application management apparatus is applied will be described with reference to Figs. 1, 3A, and 3B.

When a multitasking management command is inputted in a state where a plurality of applications (a, b, c) are executed as shown in FIG. 3A (S201), the thumbnail generating unit 110 of the portable terminal generates a thumbnail (S203), and generates a plurality of thumbnail files (a, b, and c shown in FIG. 3B) by combining the generated images with execution information of each application (S205).

The state in which a plurality of applications are executed is a state in which one or more inactive applications (an application that has been executed but is not currently working) (a and b in FIG. 3A) and an activated application (a current application) .

The execution information of the application includes unique information (unique name) of the application and operation information of the application. This makes it easy for the user to identify each application, since unique information and images of each application are displayed together on the screen. For example, referring to the thumbnail file corresponding to the reference numeral a in FIG. 3B, the unique information (10 in FIG. 3B) and the image (11 in FIG.

The screen management unit 120 of the portable terminal causes a plurality of thumbnail files (a, b, and c in FIG. 3B) generated by the thumbnail generation unit 110 to be displayed on the screen. (A, b, c in FIG. 3B) are displayed on the divided screen, or a plurality of thumbnail files (a, b, c) is displayed on the screen (touch screen) (300 in Fig. 3B) (S207).

Then, when the user selects one of a plurality of thumbnail files displayed on the screen (a, b, c in FIG. 3B) (S209), the application control unit 140 of the portable terminal activates the application corresponding to the selected thumbnail file , The thumbnail generating unit 110 storing the selected thumbnail file deletes the corresponding thumbnail file (S211).

On the other hand, when the activated application is terminated (S213), the application control unit 140 of the portable terminal determines whether the thumbnail files (except for the thumbnail files corresponding to the application selected in the step S209 among the plurality of thumbnail files in the step S205) To be displayed on the screen (S215).

If an execution command for another application is input in a state where the activated application is not completed (S217), the application control unit 140 of the portable terminal controls the thumbnail generating unit 110 so that the thumbnail generating unit 110 is not completed The final screen of the application is captured to generate an image, and the created image and application execution information are combined to generate a thumbnail file (S219).

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. And can be changed. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the described embodiments, but should be determined by the scope of the appended claims, as well as the appended claims.

1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a multi-application management apparatus of a portable terminal according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a multi-application management method of a portable terminal according to the present invention;

FIG. 3A is a diagram illustrating an example of a plurality of applications executed on a screen of a portable terminal for explaining the present invention, and FIG.

FIG. 3B is a diagram illustrating a plurality of thumbnail files displayed on a screen of a portable terminal, for example, to illustrate the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE REFERENCE NUMERALS

110: thumbnail generating unit 120:

130: Application management unit 140:

Claims (18)

A thumbnail generating unit for generating an image by capturing a last screen of each of a plurality of executed applications and generating a plurality of thumbnail files by combining the images and execution information of each of the plurality of applications; A screen management unit for displaying the plurality of thumbnail files on a screen; And And an application control unit for activating an application corresponding to the selected thumbnail file when one of the plurality of thumbnail files is selected, The application control unit, Activating the application, deleting a thumbnail file corresponding to the activated application from the thumbnail generator, Wherein when the activated application is terminated, one or more thumbnail files other than the deleted thumbnail file are displayed on the screen, And controls the thumbnail generating unit to generate a thumbnail file of the activated application when an execution command for another application is input while the activated application is not terminated. The method according to claim 1, The thumbnail file Wherein the management information is created in an Extensible Markup Language (XML). The method according to claim 1, Further comprising an application management unit that stores and manages execution information of the application including unique information and operation information of each of the plurality of applications. delete delete delete The method according to claim 1, The screen management unit Wherein the plurality of thumbnail files are displayed on the divided screen by dividing the screen by the number of the thumbnail files. The method according to claim 1, The screen management unit The plurality of thumbnail files are displayed on the screen such that a part of each of the plurality of thumbnail files is overlapped. 9. The method according to claim 7 or 8, The screen Wherein the multi-application management apparatus is a touch screen. A first step of capturing an end screen of each of a plurality of executed applications to generate an image, and generating a plurality of thumbnail files by combining the images and execution information of each of the plurality of applications; Displaying a plurality of thumbnail files on a screen and activating an application corresponding to the selected thumbnail file when one of the plurality of thumbnail files is selected; Deleting a thumbnail file corresponding to the activated application; Displaying one or more thumbnail files other than the deleted thumbnail file on the screen when the activated application is terminated; And If an execution command for another application is inputted while the activated application is not terminated, the final screen of the activated application is captured to generate an image, and the generated image is combined with execution information of the activated application to generate a thumbnail Generating a file; And managing the multi-application of the portable terminal. 11. The method of claim 10, The thumbnail file Wherein the portable terminal is created in an Extensible Markup Language (XML). 11. The method of claim 10, The execution information of the application A unique information and operation information of each of the plurality of applications, Each of the plurality of thumbnail files displayed on the screen And displaying the unique information of the application and the image of the application together. delete delete delete 11. The method of claim 10, The step of displaying the plurality of thumbnail files on the screen in the second step Further comprising the step of: dividing the screen by the number of the thumbnail files. 11. The method of claim 10, The step of displaying the plurality of thumbnail files on the screen in the second step And displaying the plurality of thumbnail files on a screen by overlapping a part of each of the plurality of thumbnail files. 18. The method according to claim 16 or 17, The screen Wherein the mobile terminal is a touch screen.

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