KR20030034931A - Menu search method through character input in portable wireless telecommunication terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A method for searching a menu through character input in a portable wireless communication terminal is provided to search a menu by inputting specific characters, e.g. initial sounds of the Korean alphabet or the English alphabet, and to perform the searched menu. CONSTITUTION: In a display initial screen(301), a user presses a search button and selects a 'menu search' item in a search screen(302). A portable wireless communication terminal checks the selected item(303). If another menu is selected, a corresponding function is provided(304), and if the 'menu search' is selected by the user, a menu search loop is performed(305) to display a menu search mode(306). If the user inputs optional characters, a character string or a combination key(307), the portable wireless communication terminal discriminates the input key(308), to search a corresponding English menu if the English alphabet is inputted(309), search a corresponding Korean menu if an initial sound of the Korean alphabet is inputted(310,311), and search a corresponding Korean or English menu if a Korean or English character string is inputted. If the input key is the combination key in the step 308, the terminal searches a menu for the corresponding combination key(313). If the searched menu does not exist, an error is outputted and the step 306 is returned, and if the searched menu exists, the menu and a help text are outputted. If the user desires to perform the menu, the menu is performed. And if the menu includes sub menus, the sub menus are displayed.

Description

Menu search method through character input in portable wireless telecommunication terminal

The present invention relates to a method for searching a menu through text input in a portable wireless communication terminal, and in particular, when searching for a menu on a portable wireless communication terminal, a specific input character (for example, Korean's consonant (B, B, C, D) ...), through the English alphabet (a, b, c, d ...), etc.) to search and execute the menu.

A commonly used portable 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 terminals usually perform user information processing and perform various functions according to a user's request. A method commonly used in the method of performing these functions is to perform an operation of a corresponding function according to a menu selection input. There is this. 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 terminal are provided, in practice, only a few menus are frequently used based on user characteristics. In addition, a plurality of submenus are configured in each of the plurality of menus, and thus, when a menu desired by a user is implemented in a submenu, a user may have to input a plurality of keys.

In the conventional portable wireless communication terminal as described above, the problem of the menu selection method for performing the function will be described with reference to FIG.

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.

For example, in order for the user to set the "call volume" through the portable wireless communication terminal as shown in FIG. 1, the main menu, for example, "volume control (assuming main menu index 1)", " Handy function "," System setting "," Alarm function "," Talk time "," Secret function "," Display "," Time setting "and" Voice recognition ", select the volume control menu with the main menu index 1 Then, submenus of the volume control menu, for example, "telephone volume (assuming sub menu index 1)", "keytone volume (assuming sub menu index 2)" and "call volume (assuming sub menu index 3). It is possible to set the call volume only when the call volume menu of sub menu index 3 is selected.

Alternatively, if you already know a combination key (shortcut key), you can press the combination key "Menu + 1 + 1" to set the call volume. However, in reality, it is impossible to memorize all of these combination keys (shortcut keys), and although the shortcut keys can 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 users of portable wireless communication terminals. Should be targeted.

Therefore, the user of the conventional portable wireless communication terminal has had to make a number of key inputs in order to select a menu that he or she wants to execute (especially when the user frequently uses the menu), and also for the 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 wireless 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, as described above, if the selection input is performed several times when the menu is selected according to the execution of the corresponding function, 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 wireless 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 cannot be avoided 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 using a navigation key and an OK button according to the tree structure of the menu in a limited display space, but this method finds the same place every time with the inconvenience of having to look at what menu is available to the user. 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, in particular, portable wireless communication terminals that need to perform user information processing quickly in a portable state, and advanced terminals (preferably IMT-2000 terminals, etc.) having a complicated menu structure can easily and quickly search and execute a desired menu. It is essential to have a plan to make it work.

The present invention has been proposed in order to meet the above-described demands, and includes a specific input character (e.g., Korean consonant (b, b, c, d ...) when searching for a menu on a portable wireless communication terminal. It is an object of the present invention to provide a menu search method for searching and executing a menu through English alphabets (a, b, c, d ...).

1 is an exemplary configuration diagram of a table showing an index of a menu provided in a general portable wireless communication terminal.

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

3A and 3B are flowcharts illustrating one embodiment of a menu searching method through character input according to the present invention;

4A and 4B are schematic diagrams of a user menu table according to an embodiment of the present invention.

* Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings

21: control unit 22: voice memory

23: key input 24: display (LCD)

25: RF unit 26: ring tone generator

27: voice processing unit

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a menu search method in a portable wireless communication terminal displaying a user selection menu, wherein some characters of a name of each menu are indexed to correspond to the corresponding characters and the menu. A first step of constructing a user menu table; Receiving a character from a user as a key value for menu navigation; A third step of searching for the user menu table by using the input characters as an index, reading out one or more corresponding menus, and displaying them on a screen; And a fourth step of executing the menu according to the displayed execution request of the menu.

In addition, the present invention provides a menu searching method in a portable wireless communication terminal displaying a user selection menu, comprising: a first step of generating one or a plurality of indices according to a name of each menu and allocating a corresponding menu; Constructing a user menu table such that the one or the plurality of indexes and the menu correspond to each other; A third step of receiving one or a plurality of characters from the user as key values for menu navigation; A fourth step of searching the user menu table by using the input one or more characters as an index, reading out the corresponding one or more menus, and displaying the same on the screen; And a fifth step of executing the menu according to the execution request of the displayed menu.

The present invention is a method for searching and executing a menu through a specific input word (characters such as Korean, English, etc.) instead of the menu search of a terminal using a conventional mobile key, for improving the user interface. That is, the present invention adds a search command and a help function in a simple up-down menu search using method provided in a narrow display of a portable wireless communication terminal, and provides a user an intuitive understanding method of the device by reducing key presses. . Therefore, the present invention can be extended to a search method which is not provided in a web browser of a portable wireless 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 wireless communication terminal to which the present invention is applied.

The controller 20 of the wireless 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 includes menu index data (main menu index data, sub-menu index data), 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 and 4B.

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.

The display unit 24 is a display device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD). The display unit 24 displays the state of the wireless communication terminal or the progress of the program under the control of the control unit 20. That is, the overall state of the wireless 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 wireless 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.

In the present invention, the user menu table can be configured in the same manner as in FIG. 4A or 4B to search and execute a menu easily and quickly even with a specific input word (assuming Korean in the preferred embodiment of the present invention). Looking at this in detail.

It has already been suggested that the method of using a combination key (shortcut key) in the prior art is somewhat impossible in reality unless the user has a manual or knows where the desired function is located. Therefore, in the present embodiment, in the case of a combination key (shortcut key) consisting of a combination of a main menu and a sub menu, for example, "Menu + X + X", the user recognizes to some extent the submenu as a submenu of the main menu. Since it is assumed to be executable only, it does not differ significantly in terms of the method of using an existing combination key (shortcut key) and its function and effect, and thus it is clear that the present invention is not a unique configuration and thus an increased effect.

Thus, in the present embodiment, even if the "call volume" submenu is not accurately known, for example, the user has at least a degree of knowledge that such a "call volume" menu is a submenu (submenu) of the "volume adjustment" main menu. You can find the "Volume Control" main menu using the "Menu + ㅇ" key and search for the desired "Call Volume" submenu under "Tell Ring Volume", "Keytone Volume", and "Call Volume" as its submenu ( 4a).

In FIG. 4A, only the initial menu of the main menu is used as an index and configured as a combination key (shortcut key). That is, the main menu "alarm function" is configured as "menu + a", the main menu "time setting" as "menu + ㅅ", and the main menu "volume control" as "menu + o". Of course, there may be a menu name having the same initiality in the main menu, but it may be configured to avoid this case if possible, or at least two main menus may appear.

However, since the configuration of the user search table as shown in FIG. 4A according to an embodiment of the present invention must additionally be accompanied by the search of the lower menu, the user terminal may be somewhat inconvenienced, but at least the evolved terminals having a complicated menu structure ( Preferably, the IMT-2000 terminal, etc.) can prevent the time waste of 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.

On the other hand, as shown in Figure 4b according to another embodiment of the present invention can be configured as a combination key (shortcut key) by making only the initial of the submenu of the main menu as an index. That is, the submenu "Anniversary Day Input" is "Menu + ㄱ", the submenu "Service Area" and "World Time" is "Menu + ㅅ", and the submenu "Reservation Time" and "Alarm Setting" are "Menu +". ㅇ ", the submenu" Phone Ring Volume "is" Menu + ㅈ ", the submenu" Keytone Volume "is" Menu + ㅋ ", and the submenus" Call Tone "and" Call Volume "are" Menu + ㅌ ". It can also be configured as. Of course, there may be a menu name having the same initiality in the sub-menu, but it is configured to avoid this case if possible, otherwise it may be configured such that at least two sub-menus appear as described above. That is, the "reservation time" and "alarm setting" submenus and the "call ring tone" and "call volume" submenus are examples using the same combination key.

Therefore, in the present invention, even if the call volume sub-menu is not accurately known, for example, even if only the knowledge of the call-related menu is used, the "call back tone" and "call volume" sub-menus can be used by using the "Menu + ㅌ" key. It is possible to find and quickly and easily search the "call volume" submenu related to the volume control (see FIG. 4B). Of course, in the case of a single-choice submenu such as "telephone ring volume", "menu + er" can be used as an input key to reduce the number of key presses and to quickly and easily search for the related "telephone ring volume" submenu.

On the other hand, although not shown in the figure, the entire main menu and each submenu serving as a submenu thereof are prevented from having the same initiality, and each submenu serving as the submenu of the same main menu has the same initiality, thereby preventing the main menu and the submenu. It is apparent that a combination key (shortcut key) consisting of a combination of menus, for example, "menu + X + X" may be configured. That is, when the initiality of the first main menu is "ㅇ" and the initiality of the first submenu as the submenu is "ㅅ", the case of the initiality of the second submenu belonging to the first main menu is "ㅅ". It excludes the case where the initiality of the 2nd main menu is "o" and the initiality of the 1st submenu as its submenu is "s". This is because the combination key (shortcut key) is used as the only key. However, this assumes that the user has a manual or knows exactly the name of the main menu of the desired function and its submenu (at least the initial degree), so that its effectiveness is not so high as described above.

On the other hand, as described above, as a preferred embodiment of the present invention, when the user menu table is configured on the premise that it is configured with the Korean initiality of the menu name as an index, the alphabet of the menu name is not limited thereto (a, b, c). , d ...) may be configured as an index, or some Korean or English character strings of menu names may be configured as indexes, and these cases should be regarded as the same as embodiments of the present invention.

3A and 3B are flowcharts illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a menu searching method through character input according to the present invention.

As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the menu search method through text input according to the present invention, first, in the initial display state of the display (301), the user presses the search button (302) 'Find menu' item in the search screen (302) If it is selected, the portable wireless communication terminal checks this (303), and performs a corresponding function when selecting a menu other than the menu search (304). On the other hand, when the user selects the menu search item, the menu search loop is executed (305) to display the menu search mode (306).

Then, in the menu search mode, when the user inputs any character, character string, or combination key (307), the portable wireless communication terminal determines the input key (308), if the English character using the English search algorithm using the English search algorithm Search (309), and for Korean initial characters, search the Korean menu using the Korean initial search algorithm (311), and for Korean or English strings, search for the corresponding Korean or English menu using the search algorithm for words. (312).

On the other hand, if the input key is a combination key (shortcut key), a menu for the corresponding combination key is searched (313).

As a result of the search, if there is no menu searched for the word, character string, or combination key, or if the menu is incorrectly inputted, an error is output (315), and the menu search mode is displayed (step 306).

If there is a search result as a normal search result, a menu corresponding to the corresponding word, string, and combination key is output, and help is output (316).

Next, if the user wants to execute the menu (317), the menu is executed, and if the menu has the submenu as the main menu as shown in FIG. 4A, the submenu is displayed (318). Of course, the main menu may be an execution menu. However, as shown in Fig. 4B, when 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 apparent to those of ordinary knowledge.

As described above, the present invention relates to a portable wireless communication terminal performing a predetermined function through user input information, in particular, a portable wireless communication terminal performing information processing functions required 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 wireless communication terminal having the characteristic of performing the function quickly in the portable state such as the wireless communication terminal There is an advantage that can be doubled.

Claims (4)

A menu searching method in a portable wireless 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 character as an index of each menu name; Receiving a character from a user as a key value for menu navigation; A third step of searching for the user menu table by using the input characters as an index, reading out one or more corresponding menus, and displaying them on a screen; And A fourth step of executing the menu according to the execution request of the displayed menu Menu search method through the text input in the portable wireless communication terminal comprising a. A menu searching method in a portable wireless communication terminal displaying a user selection menu, A first step of generating one or a plurality of indices according to a name of each menu and allocating a corresponding menu; Constructing a user menu table such that the one or the plurality of indexes and the menu correspond to each other; A third step of receiving one or a plurality of characters from the user as key values for menu navigation; A fourth step of searching the user menu table by using the input one or more characters as an index, reading out the corresponding one or more menus, and displaying the same on the screen; And A fifth step of executing the menu according to the execution request of the displayed menu; Menu search method through the text input in the portable wireless communication terminal comprising a. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The corresponding character is Substantially, a menu search method through character input in a portable wireless communication terminal, characterized in that the first letter of the first word of each menu name (name). The method according to claim 1 or 2, The corresponding character is Substantially, a menu retrieval method through character input in a portable wireless communication terminal, characterized in that the character string of each menu name (name).