KR20150081523A

KR20150081523A - Terminal and control method thereof

Info

Publication number: KR20150081523A
Application number: KR1020140001090A
Authority: KR
Inventors: 이진환
Original assignee: 엘지전자 주식회사
Priority date: 2014-01-06
Filing date: 2014-01-06
Publication date: 2015-07-15

Abstract

The present invention relates to a terminal and a control method thereof.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a terminal control method comprising the steps of: detecting damage to a display unit from a sensing area corresponding to an outer circumferential surface of a display unit; Checking an area where the display unit damage is detected from the sensing area; Displaying the identified damaged display area to be distinguished from an undamaged display area; Generating a control key for user input; And displaying the generated control key on a display area other than the damaged display area.

Description

[0001] TERMINAL AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF [0002]

The present invention relates to a terminal and a control method thereof.

A terminal can be divided into a mobile terminal (mobile / portable terminal) and a stationary terminal according to whether the terminal can be moved. The mobile terminal can be divided into a handheld terminal and a vehicle mount terminal according to whether the user can directly carry the mobile terminal.

Such a terminal has various functions, for example, in the form of a multimedia device having multiple functions such as photographing and photographing of a moving picture, reproduction of a music or video file, reception of a game and broadcasting, etc. .

A liquid crystal display (LCD) screen for displaying a moving picture, a picture, a web browser for accessing the Internet, and the like is becoming larger.

On the other hand, when the terminal is dropped due to carelessness of the terminal user during use of the terminal, or when an impact due to external pressure or the like is applied, the panel may be damaged. If the panel is broken, the screen of the corresponding part can not display the object or the user can not input the input in the case of the touch screen.

Accordingly, if the terminal can not display a part of the screen or can not input user input, the terminal may have inconvenience due to the inability to use the terminal temporarily.

The present invention provides a terminal and a control method thereof for continuously using a terminal by adjusting a user input area even when a screen of the terminal is partially damaged and a bad pixel occurs or a user can not input.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a terminal control method comprising the steps of: detecting damage to a display unit from a sensing area corresponding to an outer circumferential surface of a display unit; Checking an area where the display unit damage is detected from the sensing area; Displaying the identified damaged display area to be distinguished from an undamaged display area; Generating a control key for user input; And displaying the generated control key on a display area other than the damaged display area.

Various embodiments of the present invention allow a user to easily control a window even in an environment where there is no external input device such as a keyboard or a mouse.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, the user can continuously and easily use the terminal through the variable of the user input and the display area variable even in a situation where the screen of the terminal is partially damaged and can not be used.

1 is a block diagram of a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating terminal malfunction detection and terminal operations according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG.
3 is an exemplary diagram for explaining a configuration for detecting damage to a terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is an exemplary diagram illustrating a screen configuration according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
5 is an exemplary diagram illustrating a screen state according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a user input according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG.
7 is a flowchart illustrating a method for providing and inputting a user interface according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is an exemplary view for explaining a screen providing and operation according to a terminal failure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, a mobile terminal related to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The suffix "module" and " part "for the components used in the following description are given or mixed in consideration of ease of specification, and do not have their own meaning or role.

The mobile terminal described in this specification may include a mobile phone, a smart phone, a laptop computer, a digital broadcasting terminal, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistants), a PMP (Portable Multimedia Player), and navigation. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the configuration according to the embodiments described herein may be applied to a fixed terminal such as a digital TV, a desktop computer, and the like, unless the configuration is applicable only to a mobile terminal.

Hereinafter, a structure of a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

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

The mobile terminal 100 includes a wireless communication unit 110, an audio / video input unit 120, a user input unit 130, a sensing unit 140, an output unit 150, a memory 160, A controller 170, a controller 180, a power supply 190, and the like. The components shown in FIG. 1 are not essential, and a mobile terminal having more or fewer components may be implemented.

Hereinafter, the components will be described in order.

The wireless communication unit 110 may include one or more modules for enabling wireless communication between the mobile terminal 100 and the wireless communication system or between the mobile terminal 100 and the network in which the mobile terminal 100 is located. For example, the wireless communication unit 110 may include a broadcast receiving module 111, a mobile communication module 112, a wireless Internet module 113, a short range communication module 114, and a location information module 115 .

The broadcast receiving module 111 receives broadcast signals and / or broadcast-related information from an external broadcast management server through a broadcast channel.

The broadcast channel may include a satellite channel and a terrestrial channel. The broadcast management server may refer to a server for generating and transmitting broadcast signals and / or broadcast related information, or a server for receiving broadcast signals and / or broadcast related information generated by the broadcast management server and transmitting the generated broadcast signals and / or broadcast related information. The broadcast signal may include a TV broadcast signal, a radio broadcast signal, a data broadcast signal, and a broadcast signal in which a data broadcast signal is combined with a TV broadcast signal or a radio broadcast signal.

The broadcast-related information may refer to a broadcast channel, a broadcast program, or information related to a broadcast service provider. The broadcast-related information may also be provided through a mobile communication network. In this case, it may be received by the mobile communication module 112.

The broadcast-related information may exist in various forms. For example, an EPG (Electronic Program Guide) of DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcasting) or an ESG (Electronic Service Guide) of Digital Video Broadcast-Handheld (DVB-H).

For example, the broadcast receiving module 111 may be a Digital Multimedia Broadcasting-Terrestrial (DMB-T), a Digital Multimedia Broadcasting-Satellite (DMB-S), a Media Forward Link Only And a Digital Broadcasting System (ISDB-T) (Integrated Services Digital Broadcast-Terrestrial). Of course, the broadcast receiving module 111 may be adapted to other broadcasting systems as well as the digital broadcasting system described above.

The broadcast signal and / or broadcast related information received through the broadcast receiving module 111 may be stored in the memory 160.

The mobile communication module 112 transmits and receives radio signals to at least one of a base station, an external terminal, and a server on a mobile communication network. The wireless signal may include various types of data depending on a voice call signal, a video call signal or a text / multimedia message transmission / reception.

The wireless Internet module 113 is a module for wireless Internet access, and may be built in or externally attached to the mobile terminal 100. WLAN (Wi-Fi), Wibro (Wireless broadband), Wimax (World Interoperability for Microwave Access), HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) and the like can be used as wireless Internet technologies.

The short-range communication module 114 refers to a module for short-range communication. Bluetooth, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), infrared data association (IrDA), Ultra Wideband (UWB), ZigBee, and the like can be used as a short range communication technology.

The position information module 115 is a module for obtaining the position of the mobile terminal, and a representative example thereof is a Global Position System (GPS) module.

Referring to FIG. 1, an A / V (Audio / Video) input unit 120 is for inputting an audio signal or a video signal, and may include a camera 121 and a microphone 122. The camera 121 processes image frames such as still images or moving images obtained by the image sensor in the video communication mode or the photographing mode. The processed image frame can be displayed on the display unit 151. [

The image frame processed by the camera 121 may be stored in the memory 160 or transmitted to the outside through the wireless communication unit 110. [ Two or more cameras 121 may be provided depending on the use environment.

The microphone 122 receives an external sound signal through a microphone in a communication mode, a recording mode, a voice recognition mode, or the like, and processes it as electrical voice data. The processed voice data can be converted into a form that can be transmitted to the mobile communication base station through the mobile communication module 112 when the voice data is in the call mode, and output. Various noise reduction algorithms may be implemented in the microphone 122 to remove noise generated in receiving an external sound signal.

The user input unit 130 generates input data for a user to control the operation of the terminal. The user input unit 130 may include a key pad dome switch, a touch pad (static / static), a jog wheel, a jog switch, and the like.

The sensing unit 140 senses the current state of the mobile terminal 100 such as the open / close state of the mobile terminal 100, the position of the mobile terminal 100, the presence or absence of user contact, the orientation of the mobile terminal, And generates a sensing signal for controlling the operation of the mobile terminal 100. For example, when the mobile terminal 100 is in the form of a slide phone, it is possible to sense whether the slide phone is opened or closed. It is also possible to sense whether the power supply unit 190 is powered on, whether the interface unit 170 is connected to an external device, and the like. Meanwhile, the sensing unit 140 may include a proximity sensor 141.

The output unit 150 is for generating output related to the visual, auditory or tactile sense and includes a display unit 151, an audio output module 152, an alarm unit 153, and a haptic module 154 .

The display unit 151 displays (outputs) information processed by the mobile terminal 100. For example, when the mobile terminal is in the call mode, a UI (User Interface) or a GUI (Graphic User Interface) associated with a call is displayed. When the mobile terminal 100 is in the video communication mode or the photographing mode, the photographed and / or received video or UI and GUI are displayed.

The display unit 151 may be a liquid crystal display (LCD), a thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT LCD), an organic light-emitting diode (OLED), a flexible display display, and a 3D display.

Some of these displays may be transparent or light transmissive so that they can be seen through. This can be referred to as a transparent display, and a typical example of the transparent display is TOLED (Transparent OLED) and the like. The rear structure of the display unit 151 may also be of a light transmission type. With this structure, the user can see an object located behind the terminal body through the area occupied by the display unit 151 of the terminal body.

There may be two or more display units 151 according to the embodiment of the mobile terminal 100. For example, in the mobile terminal 100, a plurality of display portions may be spaced apart from one another or may be disposed integrally with each other, or may be disposed on different surfaces.

(Hereinafter, referred to as a 'touch screen') in which a display unit 151 and a sensor for sensing a touch operation (hereinafter, referred to as 'touch sensor') form a mutual layer structure, It can also be used as an input device. The touch sensor may have the form of, for example, a touch film, a touch sheet, a touch pad, or the like.

The touch sensor may be configured to convert a change in a pressure applied to a specific portion of the display unit 151 or a capacitance generated in a specific portion of the display unit 151 into an electrical input signal. The touch sensor can be configured to detect not only the position and area to be touched but also the pressure at the time of touch.

If there is a touch input to the touch sensor, the corresponding signal (s) is sent to the touch controller. The touch controller processes the signal (s) and transmits the corresponding data to the controller 180. Thus, the control unit 180 can know which area of the display unit 151 is touched or the like.

Referring to FIG. 1, a proximity sensor 141 may be disposed in an inner region of the mobile terminal or in the vicinity of the touch screen, which is surrounded by the touch screen. The proximity sensor 141 refers to a sensor that detects the presence of an object approaching a predetermined detection surface or an object existing in the vicinity of the detection surface without mechanical contact using an electromagnetic force or an infrared ray. The proximity sensor 141 has a longer life than the contact type sensor and its utilization is also high.

Examples of the proximity sensor 141 include a transmission type photoelectric sensor, a direct reflection type photoelectric sensor, a mirror reflection type photoelectric sensor, a high frequency oscillation type proximity sensor, a capacitive proximity sensor, a magnetic proximity sensor, and an infrared proximity sensor. And to detect the proximity of the pointer by the change of the electric field along the proximity of the pointer when the touch screen is electrostatic. In this case, the touch screen (touch sensor) may be classified as a proximity sensor.

Hereinafter, for convenience of explanation, the act of recognizing that the pointer is positioned on the touch screen while the pointer is not in contact with the touch screen is referred to as "proximity touch" The act of actually touching the pointer on the screen is called "contact touch. &Quot; The position where the pointer is proximately touched on the touch screen means a position where the pointer is vertically corresponding to the touch screen when the pointer is touched.

The proximity sensor detects a proximity touch and a proximity touch pattern (e.g., a proximity touch distance, a proximity touch direction, a proximity touch speed, a proximity touch time, a proximity touch position, a proximity touch movement state, and the like). Information corresponding to the detected proximity touch operation and the proximity touch pattern may be output on the touch screen.

The audio output module 152 may output audio data received from the wireless communication unit 110 or stored in the memory 160 in a call signal reception mode, a call mode or a recording mode, a voice recognition mode, a broadcast reception mode, The sound output module 152 also outputs sound signals related to functions (e.g., call signal reception sound, message reception sound, etc.) performed in the mobile terminal 100. [ The audio output module 152 may include a receiver, a speaker, a buzzer, and the like.

The alarm unit 153 outputs a signal for notifying the occurrence of an event of the mobile terminal 100. Examples of events that occur in the mobile terminal include call signal reception, message reception, key signal input, touch input, and the like. The alarm unit 153 may output a signal for notifying the occurrence of an event in a form other than the video signal or the audio signal, for example, vibration. The video signal or the audio signal may be output through the display unit 151 or the audio output module 152 so that they may be classified as a part of the alarm unit 153.

The haptic module 154 generates various tactile effects that the user can feel. A typical example of the haptic effect generated by the haptic module 154 is vibration. The intensity and pattern of the vibration generated by the hit module 154 can be controlled. For example, different vibrations may be synthesized and output or sequentially output.

In addition to the vibration, the haptic module 154 may include a pin arrangement vertically moving with respect to the contact skin surface, a spraying force or suction force of the air through the injection port or the suction port, a touch on the skin surface, contact with an electrode, And various tactile effects such as an effect of reproducing a cold sensation using an endothermic or exothermic element can be generated.

The haptic module 154 can be implemented not only to transmit the tactile effect through the direct contact but also to allow the user to feel the tactile effect through the muscular sensation of the finger or arm. The haptic module 154 may include two or more haptic modules 154 according to the configuration of the portable terminal 100.

The memory 160 may store a program for the operation of the controller 180 and temporarily store input / output data (e.g., a phone book, a message, a still image, a moving picture, etc.). The memory 160 may store data on vibration and sound of various patterns outputted when a touch is input on the touch screen.

The memory 160 may be a flash memory type, a hard disk type, a multimedia card micro type, a card type memory (for example, SD or XD memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), SRAM (Static Random Access Memory), ROM (Read Only Memory), EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), PROM A disk, and / or an optical disk. The mobile terminal 100 may operate in association with a web storage that performs a storage function of the memory 160 on the Internet.

The interface unit 170 serves as a path for communication with all external devices connected to the mobile terminal 100. The interface unit 170 receives data from an external device or supplies power to each component in the mobile terminal 100 or transmits data to the external device. For example, a wired / wireless headset port, an external charger port, a wired / wireless data port, a memory card port, a port for connecting a device having an identification module, an audio I / O port, A video input / output (I / O) port, an earphone port, and the like may be included in the interface unit 170.

The identification module is a chip for storing various information for authenticating the use right of the mobile terminal 100 and includes a user identification module (UIM), a subscriber identity module (SIM), a general user authentication module A Universal Subscriber Identity Module (USIM), and the like. Devices with identification modules (hereinafter referred to as "identification devices") can be manufactured in a smart card format. Accordingly, the identification device can be connected to the terminal 100 through the port.

When the mobile terminal 100 is connected to an external cradle, the interface unit may be a path through which power from the cradle is supplied to the mobile terminal 100, or various command signals input by the user to the cradle may be transmitted It can be a passage to be transmitted to the terminal. The various command signals or the power source input from the cradle may be operated as a signal for recognizing that the mobile terminal is correctly mounted on the cradle.

The controller 180 typically controls the overall operation of the mobile terminal. For example, voice communication, data communication, video communication, and the like. The control unit 180 may include a multimedia module 181 for multimedia playback. The multimedia module 181 may be implemented in the control unit 180 or may be implemented separately from the control unit 180. [

The controller 180 may perform a pattern recognition process for recognizing handwriting input or drawing input performed on the touch screen as characters and images, respectively.

The power supply unit 190 receives external power and internal power under the control of the controller 180 and supplies power necessary for operation of the respective components.

The various embodiments described herein may be embodied in a recording medium readable by a computer or similar device using, for example, software, hardware, or a combination thereof.

According to a hardware implementation, the embodiments described herein may be implemented as application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays May be implemented using at least one of processors, controllers, micro-controllers, microprocessors, and other electronic units for performing other functions. In some cases, May be implemented by the control unit 180.

According to a software implementation, embodiments such as procedures or functions may be implemented with separate software modules that perform at least one function or operation. The software code may be implemented by a software application written in a suitable programming language. The software codes are stored in the memory 160 and can be executed by the control unit 180. [

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating terminal damage detection and terminal operation according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration for detecting a terminal failure according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is an exemplary view for explaining a screen configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 5 is an exemplary view for explaining screen states according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, 6 is an exemplary view for explaining a user input state according to the terminal damage according to the embodiment of the present invention.

2 to 6, the controller 180 according to the embodiment of the present invention performs a mode in which power is applied to the terminal 100 such as an arbitrary operation mode or a standby mode (S202) (S204). [0062] As shown in FIG. 3, the touch-free status of the terminal 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention can be confirmed by checking whether the touch is impossible due to the breakage of the display The outer periphery 310 of the formed display unit 151 includes a signal sensing line 311 for sensing damage to the user input area of the display unit 151 and a touch sensing line 312 for sensing the touch input of the user .

The signal sensing line 311 and the touch sensing line 312 may correspond to the outer circumferential surfaces of the display unit 151 divided into N according to the embodiment of the present invention. The signal pattern line 311 may be damaged by a shock applied to the terminal 100 or damage to the touch area (screen) due to various external pressures while the predetermined power is always applied. The electric signal applied to the antenna may be short-circuited. Therefore, the controller 180 can check whether the electric signal is short-circuited in the signal pattern line 311 and check whether the corresponding touch area is broken or not. That is, the display unit 151 according to the embodiment of the present invention divides the display unit and its outer periphery into N regions 151a, 151b, 151c, and 151d as shown in FIG. 4, The sensing area 310 including the sensing line 311 and the touch sensing line 312 can be configured. The signal sensing line 311 and the touch sensing line 312 of the sensing area 310 may be connected to or separated from sensing areas corresponding to the respective divided areas.

The control unit 180 may determine whether the shorted region is short-circuited from the signal sensing line 311 of the sensing region 310 and determine the short-cut region to be the touching damaged region. (S206) When the signal sensing line 311 senses that a damage C occurs in the display unit 151 as shown in FIG. 5A, The control unit 180 can identify the area 151b 151d where the damage C has occurred in the displayed display unit 151. The control unit 180 displays the identified display unit damage areas 151b and 151d as illustrated in FIG. (S208). The status display may be variously performed such as shading, message output, image display, or the like.

The control unit 180 can generate and display a control key for user input due to touch damage in a region other than the touch damage regions 151b and 151d by using a soft key in operation S210. It is possible to generate and display control keys 610, 620 and 630 for user input of the normal touch areas 151a and 151c except for the touch damage area as shown in the example diagrams (a) to (c) 620 and 630 may be generated in various forms such as a touch key 610, a navigator 620 and a jog key 630. The switching of the control keys 610, 620, When an input such as a long touch or a double click is generated, the touch key 610, the navigator 620, and the jog key 630 can be sequentially changed in this order. Also, the control keys 610, 620, and 630 may move, delete, or change the display positions of the control keys 610, 620, and 630 when an input such as a long touch or a double click occurs. The change and movement of the control keys 610, 620 and 630 can be performed only in the touch areas 151a and 151c and when the control keys 610, 620 and 630 move to the damaged areas 151b and 151d, Can,

The control unit 180 displays the control keys 610, 620 and 630 in the touch areas 151a and 151c according to the user input in step S212 and controls the operation of the display unit 151 in the touch screen mode. 620, 620, 620, 620, 630, 630,

As described above, when a part of the display unit 151 operated by the touch screen is damaged and an area where the user can not input is generated, a control key is generated in the touch input enabled area for terminal control and displayed do. And may select / activate an object displayed on the display unit 151 or receive user input by the control key. Hereinafter, a method of operating a terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 7 to 8. FIG.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a method for providing and inputting a user interface according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary operation of providing a screen according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, .

7 to 8, the controller 180 according to the embodiment of the present invention generates predetermined control keys 610, 620 and 630 in accordance with damage of the touch area of the display unit 151, 151b and 151c (S702).

If the control unit 610 detects the input of the control keys 610, 620, and 630 from the user according to the touch pad mode, the control unit 180 may include at least one icon as illustrated in FIG. 8 The icon 810 to be focused on the menu screen 800 can be switched (S706), or the screen can be moved, the object can be selected / moved, and the like.

The control unit 180 determines whether an object or an icon selection signal is input according to the inputs of the control keys 610, 620, and 630 in operation S708 and activates the corresponding menu or an object in operation S710. Selection or movement of the object may be different depending on the activated control keys 610, 620, 630.

For example, when the control key for user input is activated by the touch key 610 shown in the example of FIG. 6A, selection of the object according to the touch method, touch time, etc. of the touch key 610, Activation and movement can be performed. In addition, when the touch key 610 is touched as the first input, when the second input is generated by the multi-touch, the selected object can be moved to the area where the second input is generated. (Drag function)

6B, when the control key is displayed in the form of a navigation key 620, the object is moved corresponding to the key input in each direction displayed on the navigation key 620, and the center of the navigation key 620 The corresponding object can be selected.

6, if the joystick is moved according to the user input, the user selects the object while moving in the corresponding direction, and when the joystick is touched with the joystick 630, , And can select and activate focused objects or menus according to the scheme.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, the above-described method can be implemented as a code that can be read by a processor on a medium on which the program is recorded. Examples of the medium that can be read by the processor include ROM, RAM, CD-ROM, magnetic tape, floppy disk, optical data storage, etc., and may be implemented in the form of a carrier wave (e.g., transmission over the Internet) .

The mobile terminal described above can be applied to not only the configuration and method of the embodiments described above but also all or some of the embodiments may be selectively combined so that various modifications may be made to the embodiments It is possible.

Claims

Detecting damage to the display unit from a sensing area corresponding to an outer circumferential surface of the display unit;
Checking an area where the display unit damage is detected from the sensing area;
Displaying the identified damaged display area to be distinguished from an undamaged display area;
Generating a control key for user input;
And displaying the generated control key in a display area excluding the damaged display area
Terminal control method.

The method according to claim 1,
Detecting a damage to the display unit;
Determining whether an electric signal is sensed from a sensing area corresponding to an outer circumferential surface of the display unit;
Identifying an area where no electrical signal is sensed in the sensing area;
Detecting an area where the electrical signal is not detected as a damaged area of the display unit
Terminal control method.

3. The method of claim 2,
The step of detecting the damaged display sub-
If an electric signal is not detected from any one of the sensing areas configured to correspond to the display parts divided into the N areas, damage of the display part of the corresponding area is confirmed
Terminal control method.

The method according to claim 1,
The generated control key
A touch key, a navigator, and a jog key.
Terminal control method.

5. The method of claim 4,
The type of the control key is variably displayed according to the input time or the input number of the generated control key
Terminal control method.

5. The method of claim 4,
The control key is moved and displayed according to the input time or input number of the generated control key
Terminal control method.

5. The method of claim 4,
When the generated control key is a touch key, the object is selected, moved or activated according to the input time and the number of times of input of the touch key
Terminal control method.

5. The method of claim 4,
When the generated control key is a navigate key or a jog key, the object is selected, moved or activated according to a direction input by the control key
Terminal control method.