WO2007094536A1

WO2007094536A1 - Method and apparatus of retrieving for mobile terminal

Info

Publication number: WO2007094536A1
Application number: PCT/KR2006/003147
Authority: WO
Inventors: Kun-Ho Lee
Original assignee: DREAMSOFT Co Ltd
Current assignee: DREAMSOFT Co Ltd
Priority date: 2006-02-13
Filing date: 2006-08-11
Publication date: 2007-08-23
Anticipated expiration: 2008-08-13
Also published as: KR100704694B1

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to provide a search method and apparatus for a mobile terminal that can perform an integrated search for various menu and various types of contents provided in a mobile phone and that can enable one-click execution in a search result list. The search method for the mobile terminal includes the steps of receiving a search term input through a user interface of the mobile terminal, retrieving whether menus or contents including the search term are present in menus of the mobile terminal and contents stored in a memory when the search term is input, and providing search results when the menus or contents including the search term are retrieved. The search apparatus for the mobile terminal includes a user interface for receiving various information input from a user, a controller for representing search results in a list by retrieving a search term input through the user interface from menus and contents of a memory and performing shortcut execution of a corresponding item in response to one click of the user, and an output unit for receiving result data processed through the controller and displaying the data on a display.

Description

[DESCRIPTION]

METHOD AND APPARATUS OF RETRIEVING FOR MOBILE TERMINAL

[Technical Field]

The present invention generally relates to mobile terminals, and more particularly to a method and apparatus that can easily retrieve various menus or contents provided in a mobile terminal, contents provided in a memory connected to the mobile terminal, and the like and that can display or reproduce the menus or contents.

[Background Art]

The rapid development of mobile terminals not only improves communication quality through the mobile terminals, but also leads to improvement in the performance of a processor provided therein and an increase in resources of a memory provided therein, such that various functions as well as communication may be provided. As functions provided in the mobile terminal are diverse, the number of menus of the mobile terminal is rapidly increasing.

In general, menus are configured in a unique menu display format of each terminal . It is complicated to manipulate multiple keys for selecting a menu in the menu structure. There is a problem in that an integrated search is impossible for contents of downloaded video or audio files and captured image files .

Thus, the need is increasing for an integrated search function for various menus and various types of contents provided in a mobile phone. Substantial technical development is required to issue a command for displaying and/or executing or reproducing menus or contents retrieved through the above-described method in one click.

[Disclosure]

[Technical Problem]

The present invention has been designed to overcome the above and other problems. An object of the present invention is to provide a search method and apparatus for use in a mobile terminal that can perform an integrated search for various menus and various types of contents provided in a mobile phone.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for one-click execution in a mobile terminal that can receive a command for displaying and/or executing or reproducing menus or contents retrieved by an integrated search in one click to perform a corresponding function.

[Technical Solution]

To achieve the above and other objects and address the above and other problems occurring in the prior art, the present invention provides a search method for use in a mobile terminal, including the steps of: receiving a search term input through a user interface of the mobile terminal; retrieving whether menus or contents including the search term are present in menus of the mobile terminal and contents stored in a memory when the search term is input; and providing search results when the menus or contents including the search term are retrieved. The present invention provides a search apparatus for use in a mobile terminal, including: a user interface for receiving various information input from a user; a controller for representing search results in a list by retrieving a search term input through the user interface from menus and contents of a memory and performing shortcut execution of a corresponding item in response to one click of the user; and an output unit for receiving result data processed through the controller and displaying the data on a display.

[Advantageous Effects]

The present invention can provide users with differentiated services by performing an integrated search for various menus and various types of contents provided in a mobile phone and receiving a command for displaying and/or executing or reproducing menus or contents retrieved by the integrated search in one click to perform a corresponding function.

[Description of Drawings] FIG. 1 illustrates a structure of a mobile terminal to which the present invention is applicable.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a search method for use in the mobile terminal in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 3 to 5 illustrate examples of images displayed on the mobile terminal in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[Best Mode] Now, a structure of a mobile terminal to which the present invention is applicable will be described with reference to FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 1, the mobile terminal to which the present invention is applicable is provided with a controller 100, a user interface 104, a memory 105, an external device interface 106, an external memory 107, an output unit 108, a display 112, a speaker 113, and a mobile communication function unit 114.

The controller 100 is provided with a search engine 101, a result processor 102, and an execution processor 103. The output unit 108 is provided with a graphic processing and output unit 109, a video processing and output unit 110, and an audio processing and output unit 111. Herein, the controller 100 controls an overall operation of the mobile terminal, performs an integrated search for menus and contents through the search engine 101 in response to a search request of a user in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, arranges search results in order of numbers/vowels and consonants/alphabets in the result processor 102, provides list data and other information to the output unit 108, and displays the data and information through the display 112 along with notification sound through the speaker 113. In this case, the display 112 can use a liquid crystal display (LCD) module. When one item is selected from a list of displayed search results through the user interface 104, the controller 100 provides the output unit 108 with data to execute a corresponding menu or display a detailed menu of the corresponding menu in the execution processor 103 of the controller 100 if the selected item is the menu, and outputs the data through the speaker 113 and the display 112. Otherwise, if the selected item is contents, the execution processor 103 performs a display or reproduction operation on the basis of a contents type. For example, a corresponding image or photo is displayed when an image or photo item is selected and a reproduction operation is performed through the display 112 and the speaker 113 when an MP3 file or video item is selected.

The user interface 104 is a keypad, a touch screen, a microphone, or the like, and provides the controller 100 with information related to an input of the user.

The memory 105 stores various information and contents such as photo, image, audio and video contents capable of being stored in the mobile terminal, data, schedule and memo contents capable of being stored in a phone book, and short message service (SMS) , multimedia message service (MMS) and E-mail messages, and the like. Items of titles, names or others of the contents and data stored in the memory 105 become targets to be retrieved by the search engine 101.

The external device interface 106 provides an interface between the controller 100 and various external devices such as the external memory 107 and the like.

The external memory 107 stores various contents of images, videos, and the like. At the time of the integrated search, items of titles, names or others of the contents and data stored in the external memory 107 become targets to be retrieved by the search engine 101.

The output unit 108 can be divided into the graphic processing and output unit 109, the video processing and output unit 110, and the audio processing and output unit 111 .

Herein, the graphic processing and output unit 109 receives result data from the result processor 102 of the controller 100 and outputs the received data through the display 112 and the speaker 113.

When contents corresponding to an item of a search result list selected by the user are executed through the display 112, the video processing and output unit 110 receives and processes video data under control of the controller 100 and outputs the processed video data to the display 112 and the speaker 113.

Under the control of the controller 100, the audio processing and output unit 111 receives and processes audio data and outputs the processed audio data to the speaker 113.

The mobile communication function unit 114 provides not only a proper communication function of the mobile terminal but also other functions .

A method for an integrated search in the mobile terminal in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

2. Examples of images displayed on the mobile terminal will be described with FIGS. 3 to 5.

The controller 100 checks whether the user makes a search request through the user interface 104 (step 200) .

If the user makes the search request, the controller 100 displays a search term input window for inputting a search term on the display 112 as illustrated in FIG. 3 (step 202) . As illustrated in FIG. 4, the user can input a target search term to be retrieved through the search term input window and the user interface 104.

After the search term input window is displayed, the controller 100 checks whether the user inputs a predetermined search term to the search input window (step 204) . If the search term is input, the search engine 101 of the controller 100 retrieves menus or contents including the search term from menus and contents stored in the memory 105 and the external memory 107 (step 206) .

A check is made to determine whether the menus or contents including the input search term are present (step 208) . If the menus or contents are present, the result processor 102 of the controller 100 arranges one or more retrieved menus or contents . The arrangement can be made in a specific method. After the one or more menus or contents are arranged, the controller 100 provides the output unit 108 with data for indicating the one or more arranged menus or contents in a search result list and outputs the data by means of the display 112 and the speaker 113 (step 212) . Referring to FIG. 5 illustrating an example of displaying the search result list, multiple image data including the search term "game" are arranged and displayed in the search result list. Otherwise, if menus or contents including the input search term are absent, the controller 100 provides the output unit 108 with notification that menus or contents including the input search terminal are absent and outputs the notification through the display 112 and the speaker 113 (step 210), and returns to step 202.

While the search result list is displayed, the execution processor 103 of the controller 100 checks whether the user selects one item from the displayed search result list through the user interface 104 (step 214) .

If one item is selected from the search result list, the execution processor 103 of the controller 100 checks whether the selected item is a menu (step 216) . The execution processor 103 executes the menu corresponding to the selected item if the selected item is the menu or provides the output unit 108 with data for displaying a lower menu of the corresponding menu if the selected item is a higher-layer menu and displays the data on the display 112 (step 218) . Otherwise, if the selected item is not a menu, the execution processor 103 determines that the selected item is contents and displays or reproduces the contents corresponding to the selected item through the graphic processing and output unit 109, the video processing and output unit 110, or the audio processing and output unit 111 of the output unit 108 (step 220) . [industrial Applicability]

As is apparent from the above description, the present invention can provide users with differentiated services by performing an integrated search for various menus and various types of contents provided in a mobile phone and receiving a command for displaying and/or executing or reproducing menus or contents retrieved by the integrated search in one click to perform a corresponding function.

Embodiments of the present invention relate to computer readable media that include program instructions for performing various computer-implemented operations . The media may also include, alone or in combination with the program instructions, data files, data structures, and the like. The program instructions of the media may be those specially designed and constructed for the purposes of the present invention, or they may be available to those having skill in the computer software arts. While the invention has been shown and described with reference to certain embodiments and drawings, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made.

Thus, it is intended that the present invention covers the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

[CLAIMS]

1. A search method for use in a mobile terminal, comprising the steps of: receiving a search term input through a user interface of the mobile terminal; retrieving whether menus or contents including the search term are present in menus of the mobile terminal and contents stored in a memory when the search term is input; and providing search results when the menus or contents including the search term are retrieved.

2. The search method of claim 1, wherein the search results are arranged in a predefined order and are displayed and provided in a list.

3. The search method of claim 1, wherein the memory is an internal memory of the mobile terminal or/and an external storage medium.

4. The search method of claim 1, further comprising: executing a selected item when one item is selected from among the search results through the user interface.

5. A search apparatus for use in a mobile terminal, comprising: a user interface for receiving various information input from a user; a controller for representing search results in a list by retrieving a search term input through the user interface from menus and contents of a memory and performing shortcut execution of a corresponding item in response to one click of the user; and an output unit for receiving result data processed through the controller and displaying the data on a display.

6. The search apparatus of claim 5, wherein the controller comprises: a search engine for retrieving data from the menus and the contents of the memory; a result processor for arranging search results retrieved by the search engine in a list and processing the data to transmit the data to the output unit; and an execution processor for executing a corresponding item when the item is selected from the result list.

7. The search apparatus of claim 5, wherein the memory is an internal memory of the mobile terminal or/and an external storage medium.