WO2006046833A1

WO2006046833A1 - System and method for providing afterimage message

Info

Publication number: WO2006046833A1
Application number: PCT/KR2005/003581
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jeong Jae Kwon
Original assignee: Sun Data Corporation; Chung, Kwang-Kyun; Park, Chul
Priority date: 2004-10-29
Filing date: 2005-10-26
Publication date: 2006-05-04
Also published as: KR20060037888A

Abstract

The present invention relates to a system and method for displaying an afterimage message by using an afterimage display device, and more particularly, to a system and method in which an afterimage stored in a message server is transmitted to a mobile communication terminal of a user and displayed in the air by using an afterimage display device.

Description

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING AFTERIMAGE MESSAGE

Technical Field

Background Art

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an afterimage display device used in all types of performance grounds, event grounds, and traffic control. As shown in FIG. 1, when a user waves the afterimage display device, the afterimage display device, in which light-emitting diodes are arranged in a row and are independently turned on and off, uses an afterimage effect to display a predetermined message. In FIG. I₅ the message of "STOP" is displayed.

In the conventional afterimage display device, predetermined letters or images are stored in a built-in memory, only the stored letters or images can be displayed, and the stored letters or images cannot be changed. Accordingly, in order to meet a requirement of a user, to display messages in more various forms, a new message input device that can freely input a desired message into an afterimage display device is required. An apparatus and method are disclosed in Korean Patent Application No. 10-2002-76889, in which an afterimage display device is connected to a communication terminal such as a mobile phone or PC, thereby receiving desired letters or images in the afterimage display device via the communication terminal. As illustrated in FIG. 2, according to the application, a user can simply input a desired letter via an input means of a communication terminal, such as a keyboard of a PC or a keypad of a mobile phone, thereby freely customizing a row of letters capable of being displayed by a conventional afterimage display device. However, in spite of the invention disclosed in the application, in order to input a message into an afterimage display device, it is still burdensome for the user to manually create each letter. Also, there is still a limitation in which the same message or multiple mutually relevant messages associated with each other cannot be inputted into a plurality of afterimage display devices at the same time.

On the other hand, since notable development of mobile communication has resulted in rapid popularization of mobile communication terminals, almost everyone always carries a mobile communication terminal such as a mobile phone and PDA. A mobile communication terminal enables a user to easily access a communication network and effectively distributes system resources of a conventional traditional system.

Therefore, in the present invention, a system and method for inputting messages in more various forms into an afterimage display device by using free access and ubiquity of a common mobile communication terminal, with respect to a communication network will be provided.

Disclosure of Invention Technical Goals

The present invention provides a system and method for transmitting images and letters in various forms to an afterimage display device of a user by using a mobile communication terminal.

The present invention also provides a system and method for transmitting the same or mutually relevant afterimage messages to a plurality of users, thereby maximizing a message display effect of an afterimage display device.

Technical Solutions

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an afterimage message providing system including: a message server storing a plurality of afterimage messages and transmitting the stored afterimage message to a mobile communication terminal; and an afterimage message transmission device transmitting the afterimage message received from the message server to an afterimage display device to display the afterimage message, wherein the afterimage message transmission device includes: an afterimage message selection module receiving selection information on the stored plurality of the afterimage messages from a user; an afterimage message receiving module receiving the afterimage message selected according to the selection information from the message server; a font conversion module converting the received afterimage message into a bitmap font; and a font transmission module transmitting the converted bitmap font into the afterimage display device, and the afterimage message transmission device operates in the mobile communication terminal.

Brief Description of Drawings

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a conventional afterimage display device;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a message input unit a conventional afterimage display device;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a network configuration of an afterimage message providing system according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a network configuration in which a message server is connected to terminals in various forms via a communication network; FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of an afterimage message database according to the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a predetermined character image divided into a plurality of unit messages;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a text word divided into a plurality of unit messages;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a detailed configuration of an afterimage message transmission device according to the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of bitmap font data according to the present invention; FIGS. 10 and 11 are diagrams illustrating examples of user interface screens provided to a mobile communication terminal of a user in order to select an afterimage message; and

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing an afterimage message, according to the present invention.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

Hereinafter, an afterimage message providing system and method according to the present invention will be described with reference to the attached drawings.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a network configuration of an afterimage message providing system according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the afterimage message providing system includes a message server 310 and afterimage message transmission devices 321, 322,..., n.

The message server 310 stores a plurality of afterimage messages and is connected to a mobile communication terminal via a mobile communication network to download the stored afterimage messages. For example, a message server stores an afterimage message, as a database, thereby systemically managing and searching messages.

According to the present invention, the message server 310 is embodied as a web server capable of covering a music theater or a predetermined event hall and the same message is transmitted to a plurality of users in the music theater such that the same message may be displayed as an afterimage message in the air of the music theater by the plurality of users. On the other hand, the message server 310, as a server provided as a part of a mobile communication network system, may be embodied as a server that can support the transmission of text and images by using mobile communication addition services such that a text message received from a mobile communication terminal of another user via short message service (SMS) can be provided to the mobile communication terminal of the user or the user can download an image directly located by the user via mobile Internet service to the mobile communication terminal of the user.

The afterimage message transmission devices 321, 322,..., n receive an afterimage message from the message server 310 and transmit the afterimage message to afterimage display devices connected, respectively. An afterimage message transmission device is embodied as a computer program module and operates in a mobile communication terminal, which may be embedded in a ROM when manufacturing the mobile communication terminal. On the other hand, the afterimage message transmission device may operate via a mobile application platform (MAP) built in a mobile communication terminal by downloading a program to the mobile communication terminal.

As another embodiment of the present invention, the message server 310, as a server provided as a part of a mobile communication network system, may be embodied as a server that can support the transmission of text and images by using mobile communication addition services. Namely, FIG. 4 illustrates a network configuration in which the message server 310 is connected to terminals in various forms via a communication network.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, a user accesses the message server 310 via a wired/wireless communication network by using a PC 331, a notebook computer 332, a mobile communication terminal 333, and a PDA 334, thereby transmitting an afterimage message to the message server 310 to store. For example, when a first user uses the mobile communication terminal 333, a text message is received from the mobile communication terminal 333 of the first user via SMS, stored in the message server 310, and transmitted to the afterimage message transmission device 321 of a second user, thereby being transmitted to an afterimage display device. On the other hand, the second user directly accesses the message server 310 via mobile Internet services, thereby searching letters or images stored by the first user and downloading the letters or images to a mobile communication of the second user.

As described above, according to the present invention, a user may freely transmit a desired text or image message to a mobile communication terminal of another user to display in an afterimage display device. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of an afterimage message database according to the present invention. Referring to FIG. 5, an afterimage message according to the present invention may be formed of an image or text information. Accordingly, image files or texts in various forms are stored in a message server, and a message selected by a user is downloaded to an afterimage message transmission device. For example, the image file may be stored in various graphic file forms such as JPG, BMP, TIFF, and GIF and may be stored in a file by compressing the various graphic file.

As another embodiment, a predetermined meaningful message is divided into a plurality of unit messages and the divided unit messages are transmitted to mobile communication terminals of a plurality of users, thereby displaying the meaningful message by combining the divided messages by using a plurality of afterimage display devices. In FIG. 6, there is shown an example of a predetermined character image divided into a plurality of unit messages, in which a message of a character known as "Hamtori" is formed by combining 16 unit messages. FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a text word divided into a plurality of unit messages, in which an English word of "VICTORY" is formed by combining 8 unit messages. FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a detailed configuration of an afterimage message transmission device 810 according to the present invention. As illustrated in FIG. 8, the afterimage message transmission device 810 includes an afterimage message selection module 811, an afterimage message receiving module 812, a font conversion module 813, and a font transmission module 814. Hereinafter, a function of each element will be described.

The afterimage message selection module 811 receives selection information with respect to a plurality of afterimage messages stored in the message server, from a user. According to the present invention, the plurality of the afterimage messages is stored and maintained in a database, the message server transmits menu information with respect to the stored afterimage messages to a mobile communication terminal, and the user transmits selection information of selecting a desired message from the transmitted menu information to the message server. An afterimage message selected based on the selection information is searched from the database and transmitted to the mobile communication terminal. The afterimage message receiving module 812 receives, from the message server via the afterimage message selection module 811, the afterimage message selected according to the selection information received.

The font conversion module 813 converts the afterimage message received via the afterimage message receiving module 812 into bitmap font data. According to the present invention, the bitmap font data is represented by a plurality of dot matrix rows, and the dot matrix rows are sequentially turned on and off in a light-emitting device of an afterimage display device, thereby showing the bitmap font data.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of bitmap font data according to the present invention. Referring to FIG. 9, in displaying a text message formed of 4 Korean letters as " CH ΕΪ EJ ^", the text message may be displayed as a plurality of dot matrix rows in a virtual display matrixes formed by afterimage effect. The dot matrix rows of FIG. 9 are controlled so that that light-emitting diodes are turned on and off by a row initiating from the left at a predetermined time interval to display a message in the air. As described above, the font conversion module 813 generates bitmap font data that can determine the turning on and off of the light-emitting diodes with respect to a text or image message. The font transmission module 814 transmits the bitmap font data converted by the font conversion module 813 to the afterimage display device. For example, the font transmission module 814 accesses the afterimage display device by using a communication port of a mobile communication terminal, such as USB port or a serial port, thereby transmitting the font data. As another embodiment of the present invention, telephone number information with respect to a plurality of mobile communication terminals is stored and maintained in a second database, and a predetermined message may be automatically transmitted to a mobile communication terminal corresponding to the stored telephone number at a predetermine time. Accordingly, as described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7, when a plurality of unit messages is combined with each other to form a single meaningful message, synchronization of the unit messages effectively forms an afterimage.

As another embodiment of the present invention, in determining a charge for a download of an afterimage message, a bill may be determined in proportion to the property of a message, namely, whether the message is an image or text, or transmission time.

FIGS. 10 and 11 are diagrams illustrating examples of user interface screens provided to a mobile communication terminal of a user in order to select an afterimage message.

As illustrated in FIG. 10, a user may select a type of a message according to a property of the message. When an image is selected as the type, as illustrated in FIG. 11, one of a number of forms may be selected from an image menu.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing an afterimage message, according to the present invention. Hereinafter, processes performed for each step will be described in detail. In Step S 1210, an afterimage message is received from a message server by a mobile communication terminal. According to the present invention, the message server stores afterimage messages in various forms in a database, menu information with respect to the stored afterimage message is transmitted to the mobile communication terminal, and message selection information is received from a user in response to the menu information. According to the received message selection information, the message server may retrieve an afterimage message selected by the user and may transmit the afterimage message to the mobile communication terminal. The afterimage message may be formed of image or text information.

In Step S 1220, the received afterimage message is converted into bitmap font data. In Step S 1230, the bitmap data is stored in a storage unit of an afterimage display device. In Step S 1240, a command to display an afterimage message is received from the user. According to the present invention, an afterimage message may be divided into unit messages combined with each other to form a meaningful message, and the unit messages may be individually transmitted to a plurality of mobile communication terminals. Accordingly, when each user requests his or her own afterimage display device to display the afterimage message, a plurality of afterimage display devices is combined with each other, thereby forming a meaningful message.

In Step S 1250, in response to the afterimage message display request received from the user, the afterimage display device displays the bitmap font data. The afterimage display device may display the message by sequentially turning on and off light-emitting diodes in a plurality of dot matrix rows. Hitherto, since the afterimage message providing method according to the present invention has been described and the technical contents of the afterimage message providing system described above may be applied to the afterimage message providing system, detailed description will be omitted hereinafter. The afterimage message providing method according to the present invention includes a computer readable medium including a program instruction for executing various operations realized by a computer. The computer readable medium may include a program instruction, a data file, and a data structure, separately or cooperatively. The program instructions and the media may be those specially designed and constructed for the purposes of the present invention, or they may be of the kind well known and available to those skilled in the art of computer software arts. Examples of the computer readable media include magnetic media (e.g., hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tapes), optical media (e.g., CD-ROMs or DVD), magneto- optical media (e.g., floptical disks), and hardware devices (e.g., ROMs, RAMs, or flash memories, etc.) that are specially configured to store and perform program instructions. The media may also be transmission media such as optical or metallic lines, wave guides, etc. including a carrier wave transmitting signals specifying the program instructions, data structures, etc. Examples of the program instructions include both machine code, such as produced by a compiler, and files containing high-level languages codes that may be executed by the computer using an interpreter.

While this invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to preferred embodiments thereof, various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Therefore, the scope of the invention is defined not by the detailed description of the invention but by the appended claims, and all differences within the scope will be construed as being included in the present invention.

Industrial Applicability

According to the present invention, desired images and letters in various forms may be transmitted to an afterimage display device of a user by using a mobile communication terminal and may be displayed in the air.

According to the present invention, an identical afterimage message or a plurality of afterimage messages which are associated with each other is transmitted to a plurality of users, thereby maximizing a message display effect of an afterimage display device.

Claims

1. An afterimage message providing method for displaying an afterimage message in the air by using an afterimage display device based on a mobile communication network connecting a plurality of mobile communication terminals to a message server, comprising the steps of: receiving the afterimage message from the message server via the mobile communication terminal; converting the received afterimage message into bitmap font data, the bitmap font data formed of as a plurality of dot matrix rows; storing the converted bitmap data in a storage unit of the afterimage display device; receiving a command to display the afterimage message from a user; and displaying the bitmap font data in the afterimage display device in response to the request to display the afterimage message, by using light-emitting diodes of the afterimage display device, sequentially turned on and off according to the plurality of the dot matrix rows

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the steps of: storing and maintaining a plurality of the afterimage messages in a database performed by the message server; transmitting menu information with respect to the stored afterimage message to the mobile communication terminal performed by the message server; and in response to the menu information, receiving afterimage message selection information from the mobile communication terminal performed by the message server, wherein, in the step of receiving the afterimage message from the message server via the mobile communication terminal, the afterimage message according to the selection information is retrieved from the database and is transmitted to the mobile communication terminal.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of storing and maintaining telephone number information with respect to the plurality of the mobile communication terminals, wherein, in the step of receiving the afterimage message from the message server via the mobile communication terminal, the afterimage message is received from the message server to the plurality of the mobile communication terminals corresponding to the telephone number information.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the afterimage message is divided into a plurality of unit messages which are combined to form a message having meaning, in which the unit message is individually transmitted to the plurality of the mobile communication terminal.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the afterimage message is formed of one of an image and text information.

6. A computer readable recording medium in which a program for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 5 is recorded.

7. An afterimage message providing system comprising: a message server storing a plurality of afterimage messages and transmitting the stored afterimage message to a mobile communication terminal; and an afterimage message transmission device transmitting the afterimage message received from the message server to an afterimage display device to display the afterimage message, wherein: the afterimage message transmission device comprises: an afterimage message selection module receiving selection information on the stored plurality of the afterimage messages from a user; an afterimage message receiving module receiving the afterimage message selected according to the selection information from the message server; a font conversion module converting the received afterimage message into a bitmap font; and a font transmission module transmitting the converted bitmap font into the afterimage display device, and the afterimage message transmission device operates in the mobile communication terminal.