KR101667701B1 - Mobile terminal having multitasking functionality and method for controlling operation of the same - Google Patents

Abstract

A method of controlling a mobile terminal and a method of controlling operation of a mobile terminal, the method comprising the steps of: receiving a request for an application to be executed in an inactive state; A mobile terminal having a multitasking function according to the present invention may be configured to execute one of a plurality of applications each having a unique graphical user interface (GUI) in an activated state and to execute at least one of the remaining applications in a deactivated state A mobile terminal comprising: a display; A memory for storing a thumbnail image for the application running in the deactivated state; Display control means for causing the thumbnail image for the application to be executed in the deactivated state to be displayed in response to a user input in a state in which the GUI for the activated application is displayed on the display; And execution control means for, when the user selects the thumbnail image, switching the activated application to the inactive state and switching the application corresponding to the thumbnail image to the active state.

Multitasking, application, thumbnail, GUI

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to a mobile terminal having a multitasking function and a mobile terminal having the multitasking function,

The present invention relates to a mobile terminal and a control method of the mobile terminal, and more particularly, to a mobile terminal having a multitasking function and a method of controlling the operation of the mobile terminal.

With the development of hardware and software technologies, mobile terminals having a multitasking function for simultaneously executing a large number of applications are becoming commonplace. However, due to the characteristics of the mobile terminal, the screen mounted on the mobile terminal has a limited size. Accordingly, it is difficult to simultaneously display a plurality of applications on the screen, so that most applications can not be displayed on the screen It runs in the background, and only certain applications are displayed on the screen.

At this time, it is difficult for the user to grasp the information about the applications running in the background at a glance, and it is difficult to utilize the multitasking function supported by users in the mobile terminal because the task switching between the applications is usually performed sequentially.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems and it is an object of the present invention to provide a mobile terminal capable of visually grasping information about an application being executed by a user in a multitasking environment and performing job switching intuitively and conveniently do.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a method of controlling an operation of a mobile terminal that can overcome a restriction of a display size of a mobile terminal and improve the speed of performing multitasking by displaying a thumbnail image of a running application .

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mobile terminal having a display, a memory, a display control means, and an execution control means, and has a multitasking function, that is, a function of simultaneously executing a plurality of applications. At any one time, any one of the plurality of applications can occupy the entire screen of the display. In this state, when a thumbnail display input is supplied from the user through the input unit, a thumbnail image for other applications can be displayed superimposed on the application GUI occupying the screen. According to the present invention, each thumbnail image is generated and displayed corresponding to each of the running applications.

The mobile terminal may execute one of a plurality of applications, each having a unique graphical user interface (GUI), in an activated state, and may execute at least one of the remaining applications in a deactivated state. The display displays a GUI of an application running in an activated state or a thumbnail image of an application executed in a deactivated state. The memory stores a thumbnail image for the application running in the deactivated state. The display control means causes the thumbnail image for the application to be executed in the deactivated state to be displayed in response to a user input, with the GUI for the activated application being displayed on the display. The execution control means switches the activated application to the inactive state and the application corresponding to the thumbnail image to the active state when the user selects the thumbnail image.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a method for controlling an operation of a mobile terminal includes executing a first application. Then, the second application is executed in an activated state, the first application is switched to an inactive execution state, and the thumbnail image for the first application is stored in the memory. In response to the user input, a thumbnail image for the first application is superimposed and displayed in a state in which the GUI for the second application is displayed. Finally, in response to the selection of the thumbnail image, the first application is switched to the active execution state and the second application is switched to the inactive execution state.

According to the present invention, it is possible to maximize utilization of the multitasking function by providing a simple and intuitive user interface environment in performing multitasking. Such a mobile terminal and an operation control method that provide multitasking task information based on a thumbnail image for each of the running applications can overcome the limitations of the narrow screen of the mobile terminal and increase the work performance of the mobile terminal .

As used herein, the term "multitasking" means capable of executing more than one application simultaneously. The two or more applications may be separate applications rather than interrelated applications. That is, multitasking is not limited to supplementing or supplementing any one application, but means that a plurality of applications having the same level can be simultaneously executed. Here, the application refers to, for example, an online service, a message function, a call function, a camera function, and various additional functions such as playing a moving image or a music file.

The term " active "of an application means that the application being executed is in the foreground, not the background of the display, Area " On the other hand, the term "deactivate" an application refers to the state in which the running application is displayed in the background area, not in the foreground of the display.

1 is a block diagram of a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the mobile terminal includes an input unit 100, a memory 200, a display unit 300, and a control unit 400.

The input unit 100 accepts an input command that the user inputs for controlling the operation of the terminal, and transmits the received command to the control unit 400 so that the control unit 400 operates according to the command.

According to the present invention, the input unit 100 includes an input for executing a new application from a user, an input for displaying a thumbnail image for an application executed in a deactivated state, an application corresponding to a thumbnail image displayed on the display unit 300 And an input for terminating the application corresponding to the thumbnail image displayed on the display unit 300. [0050] The input unit 100 may be a key pad 110, a touch pad 120, an accelerometer 130, a microphone 140, or a combination thereof.

In the case where the input unit 100 includes the touch pad 120, an input for displaying a thumbnail image may be to touch a predetermined portion of the screen, for example, a thumbnail image display region. Also, when the input unit 100 includes the accelerometer 130, the input for displaying the thumbnail image is that the accelerometer 130 detects a predetermined movement of the mobile terminal. Wherein the predetermined movement includes clockwise or counterclockwise rotational motion or horizontal and / or vertical other motion.

The memory 200 includes a nonvolatile memory 210 for storing a program for the operation of the controller 400, for example, a flash memory, a RAM 220 for storing temporary output data for processing for transmission, reception, or display, .

According to the present invention, the flash memory 210 stores an operating system for directly controlling and managing the hardware of the mobile terminal and an application executing on the operating system. The RAM 220 stores various data required by the operating system and the application. Also according to the present invention, the RAM 220 stores a thumbnail image for an application running in a deactivated state.

Preferably, the flash memory 210 stores a plurality of applications when a plurality of applications are executed in a deactivated state, and the RAM 220 stores various data required by the plurality of applications and thumbnails You can save the image. Also, the RAM 220 may further store a priority table for determining a display order of a plurality of thumbnail images.

The display unit 300 displays information processed in the mobile terminal. Particularly, the display unit 300 receives a command from the control unit 400 and displays a thumbnail image for an application which is in a disabled state in response to the command. When the thumbnail image displayed on the display unit 300 is selected, So that the GUI screen of the application corresponding to the display unit 300 occupies the display surface of the display unit 300.

The controller 400 controls the overall operation of the mobile terminal. According to the present invention, in response to a user input, the control unit 400 displays a thumbnail image for an application that is operated in a state in which the display unit 300 is deactivated in a state where a GUI for an activated application is displayed on the display unit 300 . In addition, when the user selects a thumbnail image displayed on the display unit 300, the control unit 400 switches the activated application to the inactive state and controls the display unit 300 to switch the application corresponding to the selected thumbnail image to the active state .

The control unit 400 receives an input for executing a new application and executes the application in an activated state. If there is an application in an active state, the control unit 400 switches the application to an inactive state. If the user selects an application corresponding to the thumbnail image displayed on the display unit 300 Termination of the selected application terminates the selected application.

2 is a detailed block diagram of the control unit 400 shown in FIG. In this embodiment, the control unit 400 includes a multitasking control unit 410, a main control unit 420, and a UI control unit 430. 2, the input unit 100, the memory 200, and the display unit 300 are shown together for convenience of explanation.

The main control unit 420 controls the operation of the other components in the control unit 400 and the input unit 100, the memory 200, and the display unit 300.

The multitasking control unit includes an event analysis unit 411, a thumbnail management unit 413, a priority management unit 415, a display control unit 417, and an execution control unit 419.

The event analyzing unit 411 analyzes an input event received through the input unit 100 from the main control unit 420, and inputs an input for displaying a thumbnail image, an input for changing an active application, Or an input for terminating the running application or other input.

When the input event is an input for displaying a thumbnail image, the event analyzing unit 411 transmits the input to the display control unit 417, and inputs an input for changing the active application, an input for executing a new application, To the execution control unit 419 when the input is input. Also, the event analyzing unit 411 does not perform any operation or outputs an error message for other inputs according to the implementation example.

The thumbnail management unit 413 generates a thumbnail image for the application to be executed in an inactive state by the instruction of the execution control unit 419 and stores it in the RAM 220. [ The thumbnail management unit 413 deletes the thumbnail image of the application whose execution is terminated by the instruction of the execution control unit 419 from the RAM 220. [

In the preferred embodiment, the thumbnail management unit 413 can periodically or non-periodically update the thumbnail image stored in the RAM 220 with the passage of time by the command of the display control unit 417. [ The periodic or non-periodic update of the thumbnail image is determined in consideration of the performance of the mobile terminal including the CPU occupancy rate, the storage available capacity, or the remaining battery capacity.

The priority management unit 415 determines the display order of a plurality of thumbnail images by the command of the execution control unit 419 when there are a plurality of applications to be executed in the inactive state. The display order is determined as a priority for applications corresponding to a plurality of thumbnail images. The priority management unit 415, when a new application is executed by the command of the execution control unit 419 or an application being executed is terminated, And stores it in the RAM 220. FIG.

The display control unit 417 accepts an input for displaying a thumbnail from the event analysis unit 411 in a state where the GUI for the activated application is displayed on the display unit 300, Displays a thumbnail image. The display control unit 417 also controls the thumbnail management unit 413 to update the thumbnail image stored in the RAM 220 periodically or aperiodically.

In a preferred embodiment, when there are a plurality of applications to be executed in a deactivated state, the display control unit 417 displays a plurality of thumbnail images. In addition, the display control unit 417 can determine whether to display the thumbnail displayed on the display unit 300 and the display order in consideration of the priority. For example, when there are four spaces in which the thumbnail can be displayed in the display unit 300, only the thumbnail images for the applications that are executed in the top four disabled states with high priority are displayed. Also, for example, the four thumbnail images to be displayed are sequentially arranged according to the priority order.

In the preferred embodiment, when the application corresponding to one thumbnail image selected by the user is terminated among a plurality of thumbnail images displayed on the display unit 300, the display control unit 417 displays the remaining one application And reconfigures the screen so that thumbnail images for the application are displayed on the display unit 300. [

The execution control unit 419 accepts an input for switching the selected application from the user to the active state from the event analyzing unit 411, switches the selected application to the active state in response thereto, and switches the application executed in the active state to the inactive state do. The execution control unit 419 controls the thumbnail management unit 413 to generate a thumbnail image for the application to be executed in the inactive state.

In addition, the execution control unit 419 accepts an input for executing a new application from the event analysis unit 411, executes a new application in an active state in response thereto, and switches to an inactive state if there is an application to be executed in an active state . The execution control unit 419 controls the thumbnail management unit 413 to generate a thumbnail image for an application to be executed in a deactivated state. When a plurality of applications are executed in a deactivated state, the priority management unit 415 manages a plurality of applications To determine the display order of the thumbnail images.

In addition, the execution control unit 419 accepts an input from the event analysis unit 411 for termination of the application executed in the deactivated state selected by the user, and terminates the selected application in response thereto. If there are a plurality of applications to be executed in the deactivated state, the priority management unit 415 controls the display order of the thumbnail images for the plurality of applications.

The UI control unit 430 receives the input received through the input unit 100 and transmits the input to the main control unit 420 in response to the input. The UI control unit 430 receives a thumbnail image display command or an active application change command from the main control unit 420 and displays a thumbnail image on the display unit 300 in response to the thumbnail image or a GUI screen of the active application on the display unit 300, So that the display surface of the display unit is occupied.

FIG. 3 shows the types of data stored in the memory 200 shown in FIG. In this embodiment, the memory 200 includes a flash memory 210 and a RAM 220. [

The flash memory 210 stores an operating system 212 and applications 214 running on the operating system.

Temporary data 222 generated in the operating system execution process, temporary data 224 generated in the application execution process, and the priority table 226 are stored in the RAM 220. In one embodiment, the temporary data for application execution includes GUI data for the application and the data for each application, an activation screen for the application to be displayed on the display unit 300, and thumbnail image data 225 for the application .

According to the present invention, the thumbnail image data 225 represents performance information for an application, and is generated by the thumbnail management unit 413 and stored in the RAM 220 when an application executed in the activated state is switched to the inactive state. Preferably, the thumbnail image data 225 may be updated periodically or aperiodically by the thumbnail management unit 413 over time.

The priority table 226 stores the priority and the ID of the application having the priority. The priority is preferably determined by a predetermined criterion such as an execution order or frequency of execution for the running applications in a deactivated state. For example, when the execution order is a criterion, recently executed applications have higher priority than frequently executed applications when the execution frequency is a criterion. In addition, the display status and the display position of the thumbnails displayed on the display unit 300 are determined according to the priority.

FIG. 4 shows an example in which thumbnail images for applications running in the inactive state are displayed on the display unit 300. FIG. According to the present invention, the display control unit 417 displays thumbnail images 522, 524, and 522 for applications running in a state in which the GUI 510 for the activated application is displayed on the display unit 300, 526, and 528 to control the display unit 300 to display thumbnail images 522, 524, 526, and 528. The display unit 300 displays the thumbnail images 522, 524, 526, The input may be for example touching a certain part of the screen, for example, a thumbnail display area.

Preferably, the execution control 419 enables data sharing between applications running in an active or inactive state. For example, the execution control unit 419 may receive an input for sharing data from a user, and may share the data in the application corresponding to the first thumbnail image 522 with the application corresponding to the second thumbnail image 526 . In particular, if the running application is an application providing a voice or video call, the execution control unit 419 receives an outgoing call or an incoming call for another voice or video call and displays thumbnail images to enable multi-party voice or video call do. However, the execution control unit 419 causes the display unit 300 to display an error message in an attempt to share data in a situation where data sharing between applications corresponding to thumbnail images is not supported.

Also preferably, the display control unit 417 additionally includes a symbol 530 for controlling (e.g., ending) the application corresponding to the thumbnail images 522, 524, 526 and 528 for the running applications Display. When the symbol 530 is selected, the execution control unit 419 controls the application corresponding to the selected symbol according to the control operation. In particular, when the control operation is ended, the priority management unit 415 adjusts the priority of the remaining running applications except for the selected application, and the execution control unit 419 ends the selected application. The display control unit 417 controls the display unit 300 to display only the thumbnail images of the applications other than the application for which the display unit 300 has ended. The thumbnail management unit 413 deletes the thumbnail image of the finished application from the RAM 220. [

5 is a flowchart illustrating a process of displaying a thumbnail image, activating and terminating an application according to an embodiment of the present invention.

When the first application is activated (S100) and the second application is activated (activated), the first application is switched to the inactive state (S200). A thumbnail image for the first application that has been switched to the inactive state in response to the user input is displayed (S300). When the user selects the thumbnail image for the first application, the first application is switched to the active state and the second application is disabled (S400). If a symbol for terminating the second application is selected from the user, the second application is terminated (S500).

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the execution process (S100) of the first application shown in FIG. 5 in more detail.

The event analyzing unit 411 monitors whether or not a command for executing the first application is received from the input unit 100 (S110). When the execution command is received, the execution control unit 419 executes the first application in the activated state do. The UI control unit 430 displays a GUI screen for the first application in a state occupied by the display surface of the display unit 300 (S120).

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the execution process (S200) of the second application shown in FIG. 5 in more detail.

The event analyzing unit 411 monitors whether or not a command for executing the first application is received from the input unit 100 (S210). When the execution command is received, the execution control unit 419 executes the second application in the activated state do. The UI control unit 430 causes the GUI screen for the second application to be displayed in a state occupied by the display surface of the display unit 300 (S220). In addition, the execution control unit 419 switches the first application running in the activated state to the inactive execution state (S230), and the thumbnail management unit 413 generates a thumbnail image for the first application and stores it in the RAM 220 (S240).

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a thumbnail image display process (S300) for the first application shown in FIG. 5 in more detail.

The UI control unit 430 monitors the input received from the user through the input unit 100 in step S310. When the input is received, the event analysis unit 411 determines whether the received input is a thumbnail image display input ). If the received input is not a thumbnail image display input, the event analyzing unit 411 transfers the received input to the main control unit 420 and executes the input corresponding function (S335).

If the input received in operation 320 is a thumbnail image display input, the display control unit 417 extracts a thumbnail image stored in the RAM 220 and displays the extracted thumbnail image on the display unit 300 (S330). In addition, the thumbnail management unit 413 updates the thumbnail image stored in the RAM 220 periodically or non-periodically with a lapse of time (S340).

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the activation process (S400) of the first application shown in FIG. 5 in more detail.

The UI control unit 430 monitors the input received from the user through the input unit 100 in operation S410. When the input is received, the event interpretation unit 411 receives an input through which the received input selects a thumbnail image for the first application (S420). If the received input is not an input for selecting a thumbnail image for the first application, the event analyzing unit 411 transfers the received input to the main control unit 420 and executes the input corresponding function (S435).

If the input received in operation 420 is an input for selecting a thumbnail image for the first application, the execution control unit 419 activates the first application, and the UI control unit 430 displays a GUI screen for the first application on the display unit 300 Is displayed in a point finite state (S430). In addition, the execution control unit 419 switches the second application, which is being executed in the activated state, to the inactive state (S440). The thumbnail management unit 413 stores the thumbnail image for the second application in the RAM 220 (S450).

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a process of terminating the second application (S500) shown in FIG. 5 in more detail.

In a state where the display control unit 417 displays a thumbnail image for the second application that has been switched to the inactive state in response to the user input and a symbol for terminating the second application, the event analysis unit 411 receives the thumbnail image from the input unit 100 (S510). When the end command is received, the execution control unit 419 terminates the second application (S520). In addition, the thumbnail management unit 413 deletes the thumbnail image for the second application from the RAM 220 (S530).

The mobile terminal described in the present specification can be used not only for a mobile phone but also for a multitasking function such as a smart phone, a laptop computer, a digital broadcasting terminal, a PDA (personal digital assistant), a portable multimedia player (PMP) And can be any terminal provided.

The present invention is not limited to the configuration and method of the embodiments described above, but the embodiments may be configured by selectively combining all or some of the embodiments so that various modifications may be made.

Here, the terms and words used in the present specification and claims should not be construed as limited to ordinary or dictionary meanings, but should be construed as meaning and concept consistent with the technical idea of the present invention.

Therefore, the embodiments described in the present specification and the configurations shown in the drawings are merely the most preferred embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the technical ideas of the present invention are described. Therefore, It should be understood that various equivalents and modifications may be present.

1 is a block diagram of a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a detailed block diagram of the control unit 400 shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the types of data stored in the memory 200 shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 shows an example in which thumbnail images for applications running in the inactive state are displayed on the display unit 300. FIG.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a process of displaying a thumbnail image, activating and terminating an application according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the execution process (S100) of the first application shown in FIG. 5 in more detail.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the execution process (S200) of the second application shown in FIG. 5 in more detail.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a thumbnail image display process (S300) for the first application shown in FIG. 5 in more detail.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the activation process (S400) of the first application shown in FIG. 5 in more detail.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a process of terminating the second application (S500) shown in FIG. 5 in more detail.

Claims (10)

A display unit; And Controls the display unit to display an execution screen of any one of the plurality of applications being activated, And a control unit for controlling the display unit to display a thumbnail image corresponding to an application in a deactivated state among the running applications when a preset user input is applied, Wherein when a plurality of applications are inactivated, a plurality of thumbnail images corresponding to the applications in the inactivated state are displayed on the display unit, Wherein, Setting a priority among the applications in the inactivated state based on the frequency of execution of the application, Wherein the display order of the thumbnail images is determined according to the priority order, Wherein when the first application and the second application among the plurality of applications that are being executed are communication related applications, data is shared between the first and second applications, and the multi-party communication is performed using the shared data Mobile terminal. The apparatus of claim 1, Controlling the display unit to display an execution screen of one of the applications in the inactivated state based on a user input of the thumbnail images, And switches the activated application to the inactive state. The apparatus of claim 1, And periodically or non-periodically updating the thumbnail images according to a lapse of time. The apparatus of claim 1, Controls the display unit to display a graphic object associated with an end of an application corresponding to the thumbnail image together with the thumbnail image, And terminates the application corresponding to the thumbnail image based on a user input for the graphic object. delete delete delete Displaying an execution screen of any one of a plurality of active applications in an active state on a display unit; Displaying a thumbnail image corresponding to an application in a deactivated state among the running applications on the display unit when a preset user input is applied; And Sharing data between the first and second applications and performing a conference call using the shared data when the first application and the second application among the plurality of applications are the call related application , Wherein when a plurality of applications are inactivated, a plurality of thumbnail images corresponding to the applications in the inactivated state are displayed on the display unit, Wherein the displaying the thumbnail image corresponding to the application in the inactivated state on the display unit comprises: Setting a priority among the inactive applications based on the frequency with which the application is executed; And Further comprising the step of determining a display order of the thumbnail images according to the priority order. 9. The method of claim 8, Wherein the mobile terminal is updated periodically or non-periodically. 9. The method of claim 8, wherein displaying the thumbnail image corresponding to the inactive application on the display unit comprises: Displaying a graphical object associated with an end of an application corresponding to the thumbnail image; And And terminating an application corresponding to the thumbnail image based on a user input for the graphic object.

Images