Abstract:
A method for displaying a call record list in a wireless telecommunication terminal is disclosed. The method includes the steps of: reading a stored call record in response to a call record list searching request; collecting call records having identical caller information in form of a list in sequence of time; and displaying caller information together with more than one icon of the call records.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates to a method for displaying a call record list in a wireless telecommunication terminal.  
       DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART  
       [0002]     In the present invention, the wireless telecommunication terminal (hereinafter, refer to as a wireless terminal) means a terminal which is portable and can telecommunicate in wireless telecommunication system, e.g., a mobile telecommunication terminal, a personal communication services (PCS), a personal digital assistant (PDA), a smart telephone, an international mobile telecommunication-2000 (IMT-2000) and a wireless local area network (LAN) terminal, etc.  
         [0003]     Generally, a call record list displaying function, which displays information related to an outgoing call or an incoming call in sequence of time, is built in the wireless terminal. For performing the call record list displaying function, the wireless terminal has to store call information (e.g., outgoing/incoming information, call event occurring time, telephone number, etc.) at a predetermined storage whenever the call event is occurred.  
         [0004]     Meanwhile, a conventional method for displaying the call record list in the wireless terminal includes reading the call record list in reverse order of the call event occurring time in response of the request of a user and displaying call-related information, e.g., icons of an outgoing call, an incoming call, a missed call, etc. and a telephone number in reverse-sequence of time as a list.  
         [0005]     The detail steps will be described as follows.  
         [0006]      FIG. 2  is a flowchart describing a conventional method for displaying a call record list in accordance with a preferred embodiment.  
         [0007]     The wireless terminal stores the call record list in advance at the storage.  
         [0008]     The wireless terminal receives a call record list searching request from the user at step S 201 , reads call information recorded in the call record list in order of recent time at step S 203  and checks whether a name, of which telephone number is identical to the telephone number in the call record list, exists or not in a phone book at step S 205 . That is, an operation/control unit in the wireless terminal searches the phone book with the telephone numbers in the call record list and finds the identical telephone numbers.  
         [0009]     If a name linked to a telephone number identical to the telephone number in the call record list exists in the phone book, the wireless terminal displays the relevant name and call record icons on a displaying unit (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD)) at step S 207 . If a name having a telephone number identical to the telephone number in the call record list does not exist in the phone book, the wireless terminal displays the telephone number and call record icons on the displaying unit at step S 209 . A screen of the displaying unit is shown in  FIG. 3 .  
         [0010]     The wireless terminal checks whether the entire call record list is displayed on the displaying unit or not at step S 206 .  
         [0011]     If the entire call record list is not displayed on the displaying unit, the processes from step S 205  to Step S 211  are repeated until the entire call record list is displayed on the displaying unit.  
         [0012]     If the entire call record list is displayed on the displaying unit, the method is terminated. Also, if the call record list displayed on displaying unit as the maximum number, e.g., 8 call records, the method is terminated. Herein, the call record list can be displayed up to the maximum number.  
         [0013]     Because the conventional method for displaying the call record list simply displays the call record list in sequence of the call event occurring time, the call information of the identical caller cannot be grasped clearly.  
         [0014]     Also, because the conventional method provides only the incoming/outgoing call information, short message receiving information through a short message services (SMS) cannot be managed according to the caller.  
         [0015]     Because the conventional method is limited by the maximum number of the displaying number on the screen at a time, the page number of the call record list can be increased due to the call information of the repeated and identical callers.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0016]     It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a method for grouping call information and short message receiving information according to a caller and parallel displaying the grouped information corresponding to the caller when the call record list is displayed in the wireless terminal.  
         [0017]     In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for displaying a call record list in a wireless telecommunication terminal including the steps of: reading a stored call record list in response to a call record list searching request; collecting call records having identical caller information in form of a list in sequence of time; and displaying caller information together with more than one icon of the call records.  
         [0018]     In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mobile terminal for displaying a call record list, including: a call record list reading unit for reading a stored call record list in response to a call record list searching request; a call record collecting unit for collecting call records having identical caller information in form of a list in sequence of time; and a list displaying unit for displaying caller information together with more than one call record icon indicating call record.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0019]     The above and other objects and features of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description of the preferred embodiments given in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:  
         [0020]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram showing a wireless terminal to which the present invention is applied;  
         [0021]      FIG. 2  is a flowchart describing a conventional method for displaying a call record list in a wireless terminal in accordance with the embodiment;  
         [0022]      FIG. 3  is a block diagram showing a conventional method for displaying a call record list in a wireless terminal in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0023]      FIG. 4  is a flowchart describing a method for displaying a call record list in a wireless terminal in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention; and  
         [0024]      FIG. 5  is a block diagram showing a method for displaying a call record list in a wireless terminal in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0025]     Hereinafter, a method for displaying a call record list in a wireless terminal will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.  
         [0026]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram showing a wireless telecommunication terminal (hereinafter, refer to as a wireless terminal) to which the present invention is applied.  
         [0027]     As shown, the wireless terminal includes a wireless transceiving unit  11 , an operation/control unit  12 , a CODEC  13 , a storing unit  14 , a voice outputting unit  15 , a displaying unit  16 , an inputting unit  17  and a voice inputting unit  18 .  
         [0028]     The wireless transceiving unit  11  transmits and receives a signal in wireless through an antenna. The operation/control unit  12  drives/controls the wireless terminal, stores call information according to occurrence of the call event at a call record list storing area of the storing unit  14 , reads the call record list stored at the storing unit  14  in order of recent time, i.e., in reverse sequence of call event occurring time in response to a request of searching the call record list and outputs the call record list through the displaying unit  16  by classifying what according to the caller. The CODEC  13  converts a signal received through the wireless transceiving unit  11  into a voice, outputs the voice to the voice outputting unit  15 , e.g., a speaker according to a control by the operation/control unit  12 . The CODEC  13  converts a received voice signal through the voice inputting unit  18 , e.g., a microphone into an electric signal and transmits the electric signal to the operation/control unit  12  in order to transmit the signal through the wireless transceiving unit  11 . The storing unit  14  stores a program driving the wireless terminal, a file system such as an image, a character and a icon, a telephone book, a call record list, etc. The voice outputting unit  15 , e.g., a speaker outputs the voice signal received from the CODEC  13 . The displaying unit  16 , e.g., a LCD displays contents on a screen according to a control of the operation/control unit  12 . The inputting unit  17 , e.g., a keypad, receives a telephone number, menu selecting information, a call record list searching request, etc. The voice inputting unit  18 , e.g., a microphone, receives a voice and transmits the received voice to the CODEC  13 .  
         [0029]     When the operation/control unit  12  displays the call record list, the operation/control unit  12  searches a received mailbox and displays short message receiving information of the caller. The operation will be described in detail with reference to  FIGS. 4 and 5 .  
         [0030]      FIG. 4  is a flowchart describing a method for displaying a call record list in a wireless telecommunication terminal in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0031]     The operation/control unit  12  receives the call record list searching request through the inputting unit  17  at step S 401 , reads the call record list stored at the storing unit  14  at step S 403 . The operation/control unit  12  collects call records having identical telephone number in the call record list as a call record list in reverse-order of the call event occurring time or in sequence of the call event occurring time at step S 405 . The operation/control unit  12  checks whether a name of which telephone number is identical to the telephone number of the call record list exists or not at steps S 407 . That is, the operation/control unit  12  searches a phone book with the telephone numbers and finds the identical telephone numbers.  
         [0032]     If there is the name of which telephone number is identical to the telephone number in the call record list, the operation/control unit  12  displays the corresponding name and icons according to the call records of the call record list in order of predetermined sequence, i.e., in parallel at step S 409 . Herein, the call record includes the call event occurring information, e.g., incoming call information, outgoing call information, missed call information and short message receiving information, etc. and icons of each of the call records are predetermined.  
         [0033]     If there is no name of which telephone number is identical to the telephone number in the call record list, the operation/control unit  12  displays the telephone number and icons according to the call record of the call record list in order of predetermined sequence, i.e., in parallel at step S 411 .  
         [0034]     If the incoming call, the outgoing call, the missed call and the short message reception is occurred continuously to a duplicated caller or a duplicated telephone number, the operation/control unit  12  displays the corresponding icon and the number of the occurrence instead of parallel displaying corresponding icons repeatedly as the number of the occurrence. In particular, the icon of the missed call and the short message reception can indicate whether the user checks the call record or not. For example, if the user checks the call record, the icon of the call record is displayed in color, or if the user does not check the call record, the icon of the call record is displayed in shadow.  
         [0035]     The operation/control unit  12  checks whether the entire call record list is displayed on the displaying unit  16  or not at step S 413 .  
         [0036]     If the entire call record list is not displayed on the displaying unit, processes from step S 405  to Step S 413  are repeated until the entire call record list is displayed on the displaying unit  16 .  
         [0037]     If the entire call record list is displayed on the displaying unit, the displaying method is terminated. Also, if the call record list displayed on the displaying unit as the maximum number, e.g., 8 call records, the displaying method is terminated. Wherein, the call record list can be displayed up to the maximum number.  
         [0038]     In the conventional method as illustrated in  FIG. 3 , the call information on Hong gil dong is serially displayed at the second lines  31 , the fourth line  32  and the seventh line  33 . However, in the present invention, referring to  FIG. 5 , the call information according to Hong gil dong is displayed in parallel at the second line  512 . The user can select one of the parallel displayed icons using direction and selection keys and search detail call information (i.e., time information, incoming/outgoing call information, call time information, etc.), according to the selected icon. Because a process of the searching detail information is identical to the conventional method, the detail description will be skipped.  
         [0039]     Meanwhile, in another embodiment, if there is a name which is stored at the phone book in the call record list, the call record having the name is displayed as follows.  
         [0040]     The operation/control unit  12  reads the call record list in response of the call record list searching request received through the inputting unit  17  in reverse-order of the call event occurring time or in sequence of the call event occurring time. The operation/control unit  12  collects call records having identical caller information (i.e., the name or the telephone number) in the call record list as an call record list in reverse-order of the call event occurring time or in sequence of the call event occurring time and displays the caller information and the icons according to the call information of the call record list in order of the predetermined sequence, i.e., in parallel.  
         [0041]     Therefore, according to the present invention, because the call information of the identical caller is displayed in parallel, the number of the call records, which can be displayed on the screen at a time, will be increased.  
         [0042]     Because the conventional method for displaying the call record list simply displays the call record list in order of the call event occurring time, call information of the identical caller cannot be grasped clearly.  
         [0043]     In accordance with the present invention, when the wireless terminal displays the call record list, the wireless terminal collects the call information and the short message receiving information of the identical caller as a group and displays the call information and the short message receiving information in parallel. In other words, not only the call information but also the short message receiving information can be grasped and managed simply according to the caller.  
         [0044]     Also, because the wireless terminal displays the call information on the calls originated by the identical caller in parallel, the lines of the call record list displayed on the screen can be decreased, and the maximum call record number of the call record list displayed on the screen at a time can be increased, and the number of the pages of the call record list can be decreased.  
         [0045]     The present application contains subject matter related to Korean patent application No. 2003-88563, filed in the Korean intellectual Property Office on Dec. 8, 2003, the entire contents of which being incorporated herein by reference.  
         [0046]     While the present invention has been described with respect to certain preferred embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.