KR20050063907A - Apparatus for accessing application in pda phone - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for directly switching to another application during the execution of a predetermined application in a PDA (Personal Data Assistant) phone, the process of checking whether a side button is input in a state of executing a specific application, and when the side button is input. Popping a window including pre-registered application icons, moving the selection display when a direction button input is detected while the window is popped up, and popping the side button with the window popped up And checking whether the input is canceled, and switching to the application of the icon selected by the selection display when the side button input is cancelled.

Description

APAPATUS FOR ACCESSING APPLICATION IN PDA PHONE}

The present invention relates to an application access method in a personal data assistant (PDA) phone, and more particularly, to a method for quickly switching between applications.

In general, a personal data assistant (PDA) is called in various terms. For example, Palm Computing's Palm and other similar types of personal digital devices are called PDAs, and any device using a Microsoft Windows CE operating system that uses a pen without a keyboard is a PPC. (Palm-Sizes PC), a product that uses the same Windows CE operating system but uses a keyboard is called an HPC (Handheld PC). Currently, the trend is to use the term PDA as an all-inclusive concept.

The PDA is equipped with a variety of software and peripherals based on the central processing unit (CPU), memory, operating system (OS), operating system that are the basis of the computer, and can perform information collection, storage, creation, and retrieval functions. In recent years, the mobile phone module has been developed into a hybrid wireless terminal capable of voice communication and data communication (using the Internet). Hereinafter, the composite wireless terminal will be referred to as a PDA phone.

In the related art, in order to switch an application in a PDA phone, it is necessary to press the Home button to move to a launcher (or a desktop), and then select an icon of an application to be newly executed. This process will be described with reference to FIG. 1.

First, the controller (PDA phone controller) is executing a specific application in step 11. In the state of executing the specific application, the controller checks whether a home button is input by a user's manipulation in step 13. When the home button input is detected, the controller moves to the background screen in step 15. In the state where the background screen is displayed, the controller proceeds to step 17 and checks whether an icon is selected by the screen touch. When the icon selection is detected, the controller switches to the selected application in step 19 and performs the selected application in step 21.

As described above, in order to switch to another application, the prior art has a problem of having to execute the application by ending the current application and moving to the desktop and selecting an icon of the application to be switched. That is, there is a need for a method of quickly switching to another application while the application is running.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a method for directly switching to another application during execution of a predetermined application in a PDA phone.

According to a first aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object, a method for performing a switch between applications in a personal data assistant (PDA) phone, the process of checking whether a side button is input while performing a specific application And popping a window including pre-registered application icons when the side button is input, moving a selection display when a direction button input is detected while popping the window, and popping up the window. In one state, the method may include checking whether the side button input is terminated, and when the side button input is released, switching to an application of the icon selected by the selection display.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in a method for performing an application-to-application switching in a PDA (Personal Data Assistant) phone, a process of checking whether a side button is input while executing a specific application, and the side button input Popping a window including pre-registered application icons; checking a selected icon when a screen touch signal is generated while the window is popped up, switching to an application of the selected icon, and popping up the window In one state, the method may include checking whether the side button input is terminated, and removing the window from the screen when the side button input is terminated.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In describing the present invention, if it is determined that the detailed description of the related known function or configuration may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Hereinafter, the present invention will describe a method for directly switching to another application while performing a predetermined application in a personal data assistant (PDA) phone. Use the side buttons on your PDA phone to switch between applications. When the side button is input while executing a certain application, a window including menu icons registered by the user is popped up, and when one of the menu icons is selected, the user moves directly to the application of the selected icon. do.

2 is a diagram showing the configuration of a PDA phone according to an embodiment of the present invention, and is largely composed of a wireless telephone unit and a personal data assistant (hereinafter referred to as a PDA unit).

First, referring to the configuration of the wireless telephone, the first control unit (1st Central Processing Unit) 111 controls the overall operation of the wireless telephone unit, and controls the data communication function with the second control unit 211 of the PDA unit. The program memory 112 stores a program for controlling the overall operation of the radiotelephone. The program memory 112 may use a flash memory. The data memory 113 temporarily stores data generated during the operation of the radio telephone. The data memory 113 may use a random access memory (RAM). The nonvolatile memory 114 stores telephone numbers and system parameters registered to perform functions such as speed dialing. The nonvolatile memory 114 may use an EEPROM.

A coder (Coder-Decoder) 115 connected to the first control unit 111, a speaker 116 and a microphone 117 connected to the codec 115 are blocks for processing an audio signal. The codec 115 converts the PCM data provided from the first controller 111 into an analog audio signal and transmits the analog audio signal through the speaker 116 and converts the audio signal received through the microphone 117 into PCM data. The conversion is provided to the first control unit 111.

The RF module 119 lowers the radio frequency signal received through the antenna 118 to the baseband processor 120 and provides the baseband signal from the baseband processor 120 with a frequency. Up to transmit through the antenna 118. The baseband processor 120 processes a baseband signal transmitted and received between the RF unit 119 and the first controller 111. For example, in case of transmission, channel coding and spreading of data to be transmitted are performed, and in case of reception, despreading and channel decoding of a received signal are performed. .

Next, looking at the configuration of the PDA unit, the second control unit (2nd Central Processing Unit) 211 controls the overall operation of the PDA unit, and controls the data communication function with the first control unit 111 of the wireless telephone unit. The program memory 212 stores a program for controlling the overall operation of the PDA. The program memory 212 may use a flash memory. The data memory 213 temporarily stores data generated during the operation of the PDA unit. The data memory 213 may use a random access memory (RAM). The nonvolatile memory 214 stores data generated by performing an application (eg, a memo pad or an address book) provided by the PDA unit. The nonvolatile memory 214 may use an EEPROM.

The key pad 215 includes a plurality of buttons, and outputs button input data corresponding to a button pressed by the user to the second controller 211. The touch screen 216 includes a liquid crystal display (LCD) and a touch panel installed on the liquid crystal display. The touch screen 216 displays state information, various moving images and still images generated during the operation of the PDA phone, and outputs coordinate values according to the screen contact to the second controller 211. The communication unit 217 forms a data communication path when interfacing data between the PDA unit and an external device. The communication unit 217 may be configured as a UART.

As shown in FIG. 1, the hybrid wireless terminal has a configuration in which a PDA unit and a wireless telephone unit are combined. For example, the second control unit 211 of the PDA unit and the first control unit 111 of the wireless telephone unit may communicate in an asynchronous manner through the Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter (UART) 150. At this time, the transmitted message format may use HDLC (High level Data Link Control).

The PDA phone is provided with a vertical volume control button on the left side surface, a predetermined side button is provided on the right side surface. The present invention uses the side button for switching between applications. In the present invention, the side button will be referred to as a quick launching button. The quick launch button may be implemented using other buttons provided in the PAD phone as well as the side button.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for switching between applications in a PDA phone according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, first, the second controller 211 is executing a specific application in step 301. In the state of executing the specific application, the second control unit 211 proceeds to step 303 and checks whether a quick launching button is turned on by a user's operation. When the quick launch button is input, the second control unit 211 pops up a quick window in step 305.

The quick window is displayed continuously while the quick launch button is input and includes icons of applications registered in advance by the user. The present invention has an option (setting item) for selecting "Display in Quick Window" and "Disable in Quick Window" in the menu of the application, and allows the user to register a favorite application in the Quick Window using the above options. do.

In the state of displaying the quick window including the icons pre-registered by the user, the second control unit 211 proceeds to step 307 and checks whether the direction button is input by the user's operation. If the direction button input is not detected, the second control unit 211 proceeds to step 311 and checks whether the quick launch button is turned off. If the direction button input is detected, the second control unit 211 proceeds to step 309 and moves the selection display according to the direction button manipulation.

In operation 311, the second controller 211 determines whether the quick launch button is turned off. If the quick launch button is not turned off, the second controller 211 returns to step 307 to perform the following steps again. If the quick launch button is turned off, the second control unit 211 proceeds to step 313 to remove the displayed quick window from the screen. After removing the quick window, the second control unit 211 switches to the application of the icon selected by the selection display. At this time, the main screen of the application is displayed on the screen. In operation 317, the second control unit 211 performs the application in response to the user's manipulation.

 4 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for switching between applications in a PDA phone according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, first, the second controller 211 is executing a specific application in step 401. In the state of executing the specific application, the second control unit 211 proceeds to step 403 and checks whether a quick launching button is input (ON) by a user's operation. When the quick launch button is input, the second control unit 211 pops up a quick window in step 405. The quick window is displayed continuously while the quick launch button is input and includes icons of applications registered in advance by the user.

In a state in which a quick window including icons pre-registered by the user is displayed, the second controller 211 proceeds to step 407 to check whether a screen touch signal is received. When the screen touch signal is received, the second controller 211 determines the selected icon (or application) by analyzing the screen touch signal in step 409. When the selected icon is confirmed, the second control unit 211 switches to the application of the selected icon in step 411. At this time, the main screen of the application is displayed on the screen.

After switching to the application of the selected icon, the second control unit 211 checks whether the quick launch button is turned off in step 413. If the quick launch button is not turned off, the second control unit 211 returns to step 407 to perform the following steps again. If the quick launch button is turned off, the second control unit 211 proceeds to step 415 to remove the displayed quick window from the screen. After removing the quick window, the second control unit 211 performs the switched application in response to the user's operation in step 417.

Hereinafter, in order to better understand the present invention, a practical application will be described with reference to FIG. 5. FIG. 5 illustrates screens displayed when the user directly switches to another application while performing a predetermined application. In particular, FIG. 5 relates to the algorithm of FIG. 3 described above.

Referring to FIG. 5, (a) shows a background screen on which icons of all applications are displayed. If the bottom voice memo icon is selected while the desktop is displayed, the screen moves to the "voice memo" application as shown in the screen (b). As shown, the main screen of the "Voice Memo" application is displayed.

During the voice memo application, if a quick launch button (for example, a side button) is input by a user's operation, a quick window including icons previously registered by the user, such as a screen, pops up. . For example, as shown in the drawing, icons of "Address Book", "Mail", "Calc", and "Memo Pad" are displayed in a quick window. The quick window is displayed continuously while the quick launch button is input.

When the direction button is operated while the quick window is displayed, one of the icons is selected in response to the operation. In this process, the name of the selected icon is displayed in the center. The figure shows that the "address book" is selected. When the quick launch button input is canceled after the specific icon is selected as described above, the screen is switched to the selected address book application as shown in (d) screen. As shown, the main screen of the "Address Book" application is displayed.

Meanwhile, in the detailed description of the present invention, specific embodiments have been described, but various modifications are possible without departing from the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the described embodiments, but should be defined not only by the scope of the following claims, but also by those equivalent to the scope of the claims.

As described above, the present invention has the advantage of being able to switch directly to another application while performing a predetermined application. That is, there is no need to move to the desktop to switch the application can provide more convenience to the user.

1 is a diagram illustrating a procedure for performing application switching in a PDA phone according to the prior art.

2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a PDA phone according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a diagram illustrating a procedure for performing inter-application switching in a PDA phone according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a diagram illustrating a procedure for performing switching between applications in a PDA phone according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating screens displayed when switching directly to another application while performing a predetermined application. FIG.

Claims (2)

A method for performing an application-to-application switching in a personal data assistant (PDA) phone, Checking whether a side button is input while executing a specific application; Popping a window including application icons registered in advance when the side button is input; Moving the selection display when the direction button input is detected while the window is popped up; Checking whether the side button input is released while the window is popped up; And when the side button input is terminated, switching to an application of the icon selected by the selection display. A method for performing an application-to-application switching in a personal data assistant (PDA) phone, Checking whether a side button is input while executing a specific application; Popping a window including application icons registered in advance when the side button is input; Checking a selected icon when a screen touch signal is generated while the window is popped up, and switching to an application of the selected icon; Checking whether the side button input is released while the window is popped up; And removing the window from the screen when the side button input is terminated.