KR20030032224A - Method for illuminating backlight of soft key in mobile phone - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A method for radiating a backlight of a soft key in a mobile communication terminal is provided to radiate the backlight of the soft key that is pressed to select a corresponding item on a menu displayed on an LCD(Liquid Crystal Display) when searching a menu and using a specific key, so as to minimize selection errors of the soft key. CONSTITUTION: A mobile communication terminal displays an initial screen on an LCD and radiates backlights of corresponding soft keys for selecting a function item(S401). The mobile communication terminal decides whether a soft key selected by a user exists(S402). If not, a standby state is maintained, and if exists, the mobile communication terminal displays menus set in a lower stage on the LCD and radiates backlights of soft keys for selecting the menus(S403). The mobile communication terminal decides whether a soft key selected by the user exists(S404). If not, a standby state is maintained, and if exists, the mobile communication terminal decides whether a menu set in the lower stage of a menu matching the selected soft key exists(S405). If not, the mobile communication terminal displays information on the menu selected by the soft key on the LCD(S406), and if exists, the mobile communication terminal returns to the step S403.

Description

Method for illuminating backlight of soft key in mobile phone}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of emitting a backlight of a soft key in a mobile communication terminal, and in particular, to emit a backlight of a specific soft key to be pressed in order to select a corresponding list among menus displayed on the LCD screen when searching a menu and using a specific function in the mobile communication terminal. It is about a method for making it.

As a method of displaying and selecting a menu to a user of a mobile communication terminal according to the related art, a submenu method of displaying submenu information having a numerical order on a screen by pressing a menu key is used.

In the above sub-menu method, in order to select a desired function, the user presses a numeric key on the keypad corresponding to the corresponding number of the displayed sub-menu or moves the cursor displayed on the screen and then presses a selection key. Could be selected.

In this case, when the menu desired by the user is not displayed on the screen, the user can select a desired submenu from the changed menu by changing the menu displayed on the screen by using the up and down keys.

In addition, when the user wants to move from the lower menu to the upper menu, the user could move from the lower menu to the upper menu by using a cancel key called erase.

However, the above-described submenu method according to the related art is insufficient as a human-friendly user interface as the menu information displayed on the screen is arranged two-dimensionally in a sequential order.

In addition, in the sub-menu method according to the prior art, only the menus having the same characteristics as the menus displayed on the screen are displayed, and the functional menus related to menu selection and change are not displayed. There was a problem that it takes a lot of time.

Therefore, as a method for improving such a prior art, a jog key is provided on the keypad to move the cursor on the screen in four directions of up, down, left, and right, and a menu selectable on the screen by the jog key; There has been a method of displaying the function information related to the operation of the jog key that can display the operation of the jog key.

1 is a diagram illustrating a screen on which jog keys, functions, and menu information are displayed according to an improved conventional technology.

As shown in the figure, as the user opens the flip of the mobile communication terminal, the menu display unit 101 displays function information related to the operation of the jog keys such as "menu", "up / down", and "telephone part". do.

Then, the user can select a desired function from the operation related function information assigned to each direction key by using the jog key 102.

At this time, as the user selects an item called "menu", a submenu corresponding to the selected item is displayed on the menu display unit 101, and in addition to this, a jog corresponding to "select", "move up and down", and "cancel". The function information related to the operation of the jog key indicating the operation of the key is displayed on the lower portion of the menu display unit 101.

At this time, if there is no desired menu in the displayed menu, the user can change the displayed menu sequentially by pressing the up and down jog keys.If the desired menu is displayed, the user can jog the menu indicated by the cursor displayed on the menu display. The selection can be made by pressing the left key of the key, that is, the select key.

Of course, if you want to cancel the selection of the selected menu, you can cancel the selection of the menu by pressing the right key of the jog key, i.

As the user selects the corresponding menu, a submenu corresponding thereto is displayed on the menu display unit. However, there is no change in the function information related to the operation of the jog key at the bottom of the menu display section, and only when the end of the sub menu is reached, the function information related to the operation of the jog key is changed to "delete, modify, cancel".

However, the improved conventional technology has a problem in that the cancel key is repeatedly pressed to move from the lower menu to the upper menu.

In addition, the improved conventional technology has a problem in that it takes a long time to change the menu by sequentially changing one by one by pressing the down key of the jog key when the displayed submenu is to be changed.

Accordingly, multi-function and menu information can be displayed and selected on the mobile terminal by using soft keys such as a jog key that can be moved in four directions of up, down, left, and right and a function key that allows the operation of the function information to be replaced. A method of making this possible has been proposed.

However, when using the multiple functions of the mobile communication terminal by the improved method, the mobile communication terminal is equipped with a plurality of soft keys and selection keys. There was still a problem of pressing another soft key without pressing a specific soft key to select the corresponding list. As a result, a user who is inexperienced in using a mobile terminal has more time to use multiple functions of the mobile terminal. There was discomfort that takes.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above problems, by emitting a backlight of a specific soft key to be pressed to select the corresponding list of the menu displayed on the LCD screen when using the menu search and the specific function in the mobile communication terminal Another object of the present invention is to provide a backlight light emitting method of a soft key capable of minimizing an error in selecting a soft key for using a function of a mobile communication terminal.

1 is a screen example showing a jog key and menu information of a conventional mobile communication terminal.

2 is a block diagram for backlight emission of the soft key in the mobile communication terminal to which the present invention is applied.

3A and 3B illustrate screens on which soft keys and menu information of a mobile communication terminal according to the present invention are displayed.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of emitting a backlight of a soft key in a mobile communication terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a method for emitting backlights attached to a lower portion of a soft key in a mobile communication terminal. According to a user's instruction, the mobile communication terminal displays an initial screen on a liquid crystal display and simultaneously A first step of emitting a backlight of a corresponding soft key for selecting a function item displayed on the initial screen; As the user selects a particular soft key from among the emitted soft keys, the mobile terminal displays menu items set on the next lower path of the function item that matches the selected soft key on the LCD screen and simultaneously on the screen. Illuminating a backlight of soft keys to select displayed menu items; And a third step of displaying, on the LCD screen, information related to a menu item matched with the selected soft key as the user selects a specific soft key among the soft keys emitted in the second step. .

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

According to the present invention, when a user presses a keypad or a soft key of a mobile terminal to use multiple functions, the user can select a soft key that emits light by illuminating a backlight of a soft key corresponding to an item to be selected currently from a menu displayed on an LCD screen. As shown in FIG. 2, a configuration of a mobile communication terminal for implementing the same is shown.

2, a mobile communication terminal to which the present invention is applied includes a keypad 211 made up of a plurality of keys, first to fifth soft keys 212 to 216 for using multiple functions of the mobile communication terminal, and a keypad. The control unit 217 for controlling the function of the mobile communication terminal according to the user's instruction input via the 211 or the first to fifth soft keys 212 to 216 and the first under the control of the controller 217. First to fifth backlights 218 to 222 for emitting the fifth to fifth soft keys 212 to 216, and a liquid crystal display 223 for displaying various menu items under control of the controller 217. .

Here, the first to fifth backlights 218 to 222 are mounted to correspond to the lower portions of the first to fifth soft keys 212 to 216, respectively, and the soft keys and the backlights are not necessarily limited to four. The number may be implemented by being modified according to the function of the mobile communication terminal.

The operation of the mobile communication terminal having such a configuration will be described below with reference to FIGS. 3A and 3B.

First, when a user opens a folder of the mobile communication terminal, the control unit 217 displays the function items as shown in FIG. 3A on the LCD screen 223, and at the same time, the control unit 217 controls the first to fourth backlights (see FIG. 218 to 221 are turned on to emit the first to fourth soft keys 212 to 215. This is for selecting a corresponding soft key for a function that a user can select from among the function items currently displayed on the LCD screen 223.

Here, the first soft key 212 is a key for searching various menus of the mobile communication terminal and selects a "menu" item on the LCD screen 223, and the second soft key 213 is a key of the mobile communication terminal. The key for retrieving the calling history is to select the "foot" item on the LCD screen 223, and the third soft key 214 is the key for retrieving the incoming call history of the mobile communication terminal. The fourth soft key 215 is for selecting a "telephone part" item on the LCD screen 223 as a key for searching for a telephone part of the mobile communication terminal.

As such, when the first to fourth soft keys 212 to 215 are emitted, when the user presses the third soft key 214 to confirm the incoming call history of the mobile communication terminal, the control unit 217 is shown in FIG. 3B. The first, fourth and fifth soft keys 212 can be displayed by simultaneously displaying the function items on the liquid crystal display 223 and simultaneously turning on the first, fourth and fifth backlights 218, 221 and 222. 215 and 216 are emitted.

Here, the first soft key 212 is a key for deleting a message or the like received by the sender " I love, " for selecting an item " delete " on the LCD screen 223, and the fourth soft key 215. ) Is a key for selecting a function for sending a text message to the caller "I love" to select the "text transmission" item on the LCD screen 223, the fifth soft key 216 is "direct director" It is for selecting the "confirmation" item on the liquid crystal display 223 as a key for confirming the message received by the sender, "Rang".

As described above with reference to FIGS. 3A and 3B, the user can easily select a desired function item by emitting only a soft key related to a user selectable item among the function items currently displayed on the LCD screen 223. .

Referring to FIG. 4, a detailed description will be given of an embodiment of a method for emitting a backlight of a soft key according to an embodiment of the present invention on a mobile communication terminal having the configuration and operation characteristics as described above.

Referring to FIG. 4, first, when a user opens a folder of the mobile communication terminal, the mobile communication terminal displays the initial screen on the LCD screen and simultaneously emits the backlight of the corresponding soft key for selecting a function item displayed on the initial screen ( S401). Here, the mobile communication terminal can display the screen as shown in FIG. 3A as the initial screen.

The mobile terminal determines whether there is a soft key selected by the user among the soft keys emitted (S402). If there is no soft key selected, the mobile communication terminal maintains a standby state until a user's instruction is given.

If there is a soft key selected in the determination process (S402), the mobile terminal displays the menu items set on the next lower path of the function item matching the selected soft key on the LCD screen and simultaneously selects the menu items displayed on the screen. The backlight of the soft keys for emitting light (S403). At this time, the backlight of the soft keys emitted in the light emitting process (S401) is turned off.

For example, when the user presses the third soft key 214 to select the “wear” item on the screen shown in FIG. 3A, the mobile terminal selects a menu set in the path immediately following the “wear” item. Items are displayed on the liquid crystal display 223 as in FIG. 3B and at the same time soft keys for selecting menu items displayed on this screen are emitted.

As described above, in the state in which the specific soft keys are emitted, the mobile communication terminal determines whether there is a soft key selected by the user among the soft keys emitted in the light emitting process (S403). Hold on until instructed.

If there is a soft key selected in the determination process (S404), the mobile communication terminal determines whether there is a menu item set in a lower path of the menu item matching the selected soft key (S405). If the menu item of the lower path is not set as a result of the determination, the mobile communication terminal displays information related to the menu item selected by the soft key on the LCD screen (S406). Here, the information displayed on the LCD screen by the mobile terminal includes a telephone number or a call history, and the mobile communication terminal may also display a screen for text message transmission or a received text message.

If the menu item of the lower path is set as a result of the determination in step S405, the mobile communication terminal proceeds to displaying the menu item of the lower path and the corresponding soft key emitting process S403, according to the user's instruction. A backlight emission process of the display and soft keys is performed as described.

Although the technical spirit of the present invention has been described in detail according to the above-described preferred embodiment, it should be noted that the above-described embodiment is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. In addition, those skilled in the art will understand that various embodiments are possible within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention.

As described above, according to the present invention, when the user searches for a menu and uses a specific function, the present invention emits a backlight of a specific soft key to be pressed to select a corresponding list among menus displayed on the LCD screen. By allowing one soft key to be selected, the user can easily use the multiple functions of the mobile communication terminal, thereby significantly improving the merchandise of the product.

Claims (3)

A method of emitting light emitting backlights attached to a lower part of a soft key in a mobile communication terminal, According to a user's instruction, the mobile communication terminal comprises: a first step of displaying an initial screen on a liquid crystal screen and simultaneously emitting a backlight of a corresponding soft key for selecting a function item displayed on the initial screen; As the user selects a particular soft key from among the emitted soft keys, the mobile terminal displays menu items set on the next lower path of the function item that matches the selected soft key on the LCD screen and simultaneously on the screen. Illuminating a backlight of soft keys for selecting displayed menu items; And As the user selects a specific soft key among the soft keys emitted in the second step, the mobile terminal displays the information related to the menu item matching the selected soft key on the LCD screen. Back light emitting method of the soft key comprising a. The method of claim 1, As the user selects a specific soft key in the first step, the mobile terminal turns off the backlight of the soft keys emitted in the first step and then subordinates the function item that matches the soft key selected in the second step. A method for backlit light emission of soft keys, characterized in that the backlight of soft keys for selecting menu items set in a path is turned on. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The third step, A third step of determining whether there is a soft key selected by the user among the soft keys emitted in the second step; If there is no soft key selected as a result of the determination in step 3-1, the mobile communication terminal maintains the standby state until a user's instruction is given; A third to fourth steps of determining whether there is a menu item set in a lower path of a menu item matching the selected soft key if the selected soft key exists as a result of the determination in step 3-1; If the menu item of the lower path is not set as a result of the determination in step 3-4, the mobile communication terminal displays step 3-5 on the LCD screen, the information related to the menu item selected by the soft key; And If the menu item of the sub path is set as a result of the determination in step 3-4, the display proceeds to the second step of displaying the menu item of the sub path and the corresponding soft key, and displays the menu item according to the user's instruction. Steps 3-6 of performing a process of emitting the backlight of the soft key Back light emitting method of the soft key comprising a.