Abstract:
A computer system includes a touch pad having plural key areas and generating a key signal according to a touch input with respect to the respective key areas, a display, a storing unit for storing a relation table of the character value corresponding to the key area, and a controller reading the character value corresponding to the concerned key area from the storing unit and displaying the same on the display if a key signal is generated in the touch pad, and if the key signals are successively generated with respect to the plural key areas, sequentially converting and displaying the character values corresponding to the successive key areas.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2006-87576, filed Sep. 11, 2006, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     Aspects of the present invention relate to a computer system and a control method thereof, and more particularly, to a computer system having a touch pad and a control method thereof. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Generally, a computer system comprises a main body part, a display to display an image, and an inputting device connected with the main body unit to input commands and data. Keyboards and mice are widely used inputting devices. 
     Recently, computer systems have begun including a touch pad as an input device. The touch pad is usually arranged in a planar shape, provided in a portable computer as a pointing device, and functions like a mouse. If a user moves a finger along the surface of the touch pad, pressure caused by the finger is converted into a voltage or into an electric current. The CPU calculates position coordinates of areas touched by the finger based on the converted signal. The position of a cursor or a pointer displayed on a monitor is moved, or an operation such as a mouse click or a movement of a scroll bar can be performed, according to the calculated position coordinates. 
     However, in conventional computer systems provided with touch pads, the touch pad can perform only the functions of a mouse. Accordingly, a keyboard to input characters should also be provided. In addition, as the size of computers continues to decrease, the inclusion of both a touch panel and a keyboard in the computer may create portability problems due to the larger volume needed to incorporate both types of input devices into the same system. 
     Computers incorporating the touch screen into the display receive pressure signals generated as a user touches the surface of the touch screen/display. The computer translates the pressure signals into the motion of a pointer or the inputting of a character. However, if characters are inputted through the touch screen, part of the display can not be utilized, since a portion of the visual space is taken up by a virtual keyboard. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Aspects of the invention provide a computer system and a control method of the computer system capable of easily inputting characters through the touch pad. Also, the computer system and the control method of the computer system can be minimized in its size by replacing a touch pad for a function of a conventional mouse and a keyboard. 
     Additional aspects of the present invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the general inventive concept. 
     According to an aspect of the present invention, a computer system is provided comprising a touch pad having a plurality of key areas to generate a key signal according to a touch input, the key signal corresponding to one of the key areas; a display; a storing unit to store a relation table relating each of a plurality of character values to a corresponding key area in the plurality of key areas; and a controller to read, from the storing unit, the character value corresponding to a key area corresponding to the key signal generated in the touch pad and to display the character value on the display if a key signal is generated in the touch pad, and if successive key signals are generated with respect to the plurality of key areas, to sequentially convert the successive key signals into the corresponding successive character values and to display each of the successive character values on the display by replacing a previously displayed character value with the character value to be displayed. 
     According to another embodiment of the present invention, the controller comprises a driver to convert the character value generated from the touch pad into the character value corresponding to the key signal, and an application to processing the converted character value and to displaying the character value on the display unit. 
     According to another embodiment of the present invention, when the key signal disappears, the controller displays the character value corresponding to the key area in which the key signal disappeared. 
     According to another embodiment of the present invention, the computer system further comprises a user selecting unit to set the character values corresponding to the key areas; wherein the controller stores in the storing unit the character values set by the user selecting unit. 
     According to another aspect of the present invention, a control method of a computer system having a touch pad comprises: determining whether a key signal is generated in the touch pad; displaying a character value corresponding to the key area in which the key signal way generated; determining whether successive key signals were generated; converting each of the successive key signals into the character value corresponding to the key signal corresponding to the key area if successive key signals were generated; and displaying the character values corresponding to the successive key areas if successive key signals were generated. 
     According to another embodiment of the present invention, the control method of the computer system further comprises displaying the character value corresponding to the key area in which the key signal disappeared if the key signal disappeared. 
     According to another embodiment of the present invention, the control method of the computer system further comprises storing the character value corresponding to the key area. 
     According to another embodiment of the present invention, storing the character value comprises setting the character values corresponding to the key areas and storing the set character values. 
     Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The above and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which: 
         FIG. 1  is a control block diagram of a computer system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the computer system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIGS. 3A and 3B  are drawings illustrating character values preset corresponding to key areas of a touch pad according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 4  is a flow diagram illustrating a control method of the computer system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
     Reference will now be made in detail to the present embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below in order to explain the present invention by referring to the figures. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , a computer system according to the present invention comprises a touch pad  10 , a display  40 , a user selecting unit  30 , a storing unit  20 , and a controller  50 . The computer system may be a desktop system, a notebook (portable computer), a portable entertainment device, a mobile phone, or any computing device requiring user input. 
     The touch pad  10  is provided as a panel which senses pressure applied when a stylus or a user&#39;s hand touches the panel. The touch pad  10  has a plurality of key areas. The touch pad  10  functions as a keyboard which generates a key signal according to a touch input of the respective key areas and supplies the key signals to the controller  50 . 
     The touch pad  10  senses whether touch input is generated by contact with the touch pad  10 . Then, if touch input is generated, the touch pad  10  generates the key signal according to the touch input. A firmware is coupled to the planar bottom of the touch pad  10 . The firmware may generate the key signal after determining the key areas of the input generated on the touch pad  10 . Then, the character values corresponding to the generated key signal are displayed on the display  40  by the controller  50 , which will be described later. 
     The touch pad  10  will be described in more detail with reference to  FIGS. 3A and 3B .  FIGS. 3A and 3B  illustrate an example in which character values corresponding to the key areas of the touch pad  10  are preset. In this example, the character values are English capital letters; however, the key areas may represent any character set, such as English lower case letters, Korean, Japanese, etc. 
     As shown in  FIG. 3A , the touch pad  10  is divided into a plurality of key areas, and the character values (the characters making up the English alphabet) are arranged in the respective key areas. The key areas may have the same arrangement as the keyboard, as shown in  FIG. 3B . The character values corresponding to the respective key areas may be set by the user. Other aspects of the invention may employ other arrangements of the key values, depending on the circumstances. For example, a touch screen included in a mobile phone may have an arrangement corresponding to the arrangement of keys on a phone. 
     When the user moves an input device across the touch pad  10 , the touch pad  10  performs the function of a mouse by moving the pointer on the display  40  according to movement by contact of the user. The input device may be a stylus (such as a stylus manufactured especially for use with the touch pad  10 , a pen, a pencil, or the like) or the user&#39;s finger. The touch pad  10  is connected with the controller  50  through a PS/2 interface method, and may provide the input signal generated by a user&#39;s operation. However, the interface is not limited to PS/2 as long as the input device and the controller  50  can be connected to each other. According to other aspects of the present invention, the interface may be a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface. 
     The user selecting unit  30  comprises keys to set a user environment to input characters through the touch pad  10 . The user selecting unit  30  may be provided on one side of the computer system. Whether the touch pad  10  will perform the function of the keyboard or the function of the mouse may be set through the user environment, for example by a dialog box or pull-down menu. In addition, the kind of languages (such as Korean, English upper-case letters, English lower-case letters, Japanese, and special characters) of the character values corresponding to the key areas of the touch pad  10  can be set through the user environment. 
     A relation table is stored in the storing unit  20 . The relation table relates the character values to each of the key areas of the touch pad  10 . The storing unit  20  may be provided as an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), an EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), or any type of recording media. Various types of displays  40  may be used, such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a plasma display panel (PDP), and displays an image signal supplied from the controller  50 . 
     The controller  50  reads, from the storing unit  20 , the character values corresponding to the areas where the key signal inputted onto the touch pad  10  was generated and displays the character values on the display  40 . If successive key signals are generated, the controller  50  sequentially reads the character values corresponding to the successive key areas to changeably display the character values on the display  40 . The controller  50  may be provided as a CPU or a MICOM. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , the controller  50  comprises a driver  53 , and an application  51 . According to other aspects of the present invention, the controller  50  may include other components in addition to the driver  53  and the application  51 . Similarly, the functionality of two or more components may be performed by a single component. 
     The driver  53  reads character values corresponding to the key areas in which the touch input is generated from the storing unit  20  on the basis of the key signal generated from the touch pad  10 . The driver  53  converts the key signal into the character values. The driver  53  sequentially reads the character values corresponding to the successive key areas when successive key signals are generated and sequentially converts the successive key signals into the character values. The driver  53  converts the character values corresponding to the key signal outputted from the touch pad  10  according to the user environment preset by the user through the user selecting unit  30 . 
     The application  51  processes the character values converted by the driver  53  and displays the converted character values on the display  40 . The character values that the application  51  processes are processed the in the same fashion as those inputted from a conventional keyboard. For example, when the user touches the key area u 1  of  FIG. 3A , the touch pad  10  generates the key signal of the key area u 1  and outputs the key signal to the controller  50 . The controller  50  receives the key signal and controls the character value ‘A’ preset in the key area u 1  to be displayed on the display  40 . 
     If the user moves the touch input in the direction indicated by the arrow shown in  FIG. 3A , from key area u 1  to key area u 3 , the touch pad  10  successively generates the key signal according to the generated touch input and outputs the key signals to the controller  50 . As the user moves the touch input in the direction indicated by the arrow, a stream of key signals (i.e., successive key signals) is generated: first a key signal corresponding to key area u 1 , then a key signal corresponding to key area u 2 , and finally a key signal corresponding to key area u 3 . As the controller receives the successive key signals, the controller  50  converts the key signals into the successive character values. In the example shown in  FIG. 3 , the successive character values are ‘A’, ‘I’, and ‘J’, respectively. Finally, the controller  50  controls the display  40  to display the successive character values in the same location one after another by replacing the previous character value in the stream with the next character value in the stream. First, the controller  50  controls the display to display the character value ‘A’. Then, the controller  50  controls the display to replace the character value ‘A’ with the character value ‘I’. Finally, the controller  50  controls the display to replace the character value ‘I’ with the last of the successive character values, the character value ‘J’. The controller  50  continues this process until touch input ceases (disappears) and no key signals are received from the touch pad  10 . When touch input ceases, the controller  50  moves the cursor and waits for a next character value to be inputted in the state where the character value ‘J’ corresponding to the key area u 3  is displayed on the display  40 . 
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the computer system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The computer system is provided with the display  40 , the touch pad  10 , and the user selecting unit  30 , all arranged on the outside of the computer system. The computer system provides a user environment so that the user can input the character value through the user selecting unit  30 . 
     If the user applies pressure on the touch pad  10  using a stylus or other methods, a key signal corresponding to the key area in which the pressure was generated is made. The character value corresponding to the key area is displayed on the display  40 . If the user moves the stylus around the touch pad  10 , creating moving touch input, a stream of key signals (successive key signals) is generated and the corresponding character values are successively displayed on the display  40 . After the character value the user wants is displayed, the user may cease applying pressure to the touchpad  10 . Thereafter, the character value corresponding to the key area where the pressure ceased is displayed on the display  40  and the cursor moves to the next position. 
     The controller  50  stores in the storing unit  20  the respective character values preset through the user selecting unit  30  corresponding to the plural key areas of the touch pad  10 . If a key signal is generated, the controller  50  controls the character values stored in the storing unit  20  to be displayed on the basis of the generated key signal. Accordingly, the characters can be easily inputted through the touch pad  10 . Since the function of the conventional keyboard and the mouse are provided only with the touch pad  10 , the volume of the computer system is minimized so as to maximize portability. Furthermore, since characters are inputted without using part of the screen to display a virtual keyboard as compared with the conventional touch screen, the touch pad can be conveniently used without taking up space on the screen. 
     A control routine of the computer system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in  FIG. 4 . Here, the computer system has a user environment set to input the character values. As shown in  FIG. 4 , it is first determined whether touch input is generated on the touch pad  10  (S 1 ). 
     If the touch input is generated, a key signal is generated corresponding to the key area in which the touch input was generated (S 3 ). As described above, the touch pad  10  comprises the firmware. If the touch input was generated, the firmware generates the corresponding key signal and supplies the key signal to the controller  50 . Upon receiving the key signal, the controller  50  reads the character value corresponding to the key area in which the touch input has been generated in the storing unit  20  on the basis of the key signal and displays the character value on the display  40  (S 5 ). 
     The controller  50  determines whether successive key signals are received from the touch pad  10  (S 7 ). If the successive key signals were received, the controller  50  sequentially reads the successive character values corresponding to the changing key signal in the storing unit  20 . The controller  50  sequentially converts the read character value and displays the character values on the display  40  (S 9 ). 
     The controller  50  determines whether the key signal disappears as the touch input generated on the touch pad  10  disappears (S 11 ). If the key signal disappeared, the controller  50  moves the cursor so that the character value corresponding to the key area in which the key signal has disappeared can be displayed on the display  40  (S 13 ). 
     If no successive key signals were generated in stage S 7 , the controller  50  determines whether the key signal has disappeared (S 15 ). If it is determined that the key signal has not disappeared in the stage S 15 , the controller  50  displays a character value corresponding to the key signal and waits for further input (S 5 ). If the key signal has disappeared in stage S 15 , the controller  50  moves the cursor S 13  so that the character value corresponding to the key area in which the key signal has disappeared can be displayed on the display  40  (S 13 ). 
     Accordingly, the user can easily input characters by moving the touch input on the surface of the touch pad  10  until a desired character value is displayed. Also, the functions of conventional inputting devices (e.g., keyboard and mouse) can be performed only with the touch pad  10 , thereby eliminating the need for additional input devices. In addition, the user can use the whole areas of the display  40 . 
     As described above, the computer system and the control method thereof according to aspects of the present invention can easily input characters through the touch pad. Also, since the function of the conventional keyboard and the mouse can be performed only with the touch pad, the computer system can be minimized, increasing portability. 
     The computer system can also be conveniently used without a screen interruption since characters can be inputted without using a screen to illustrate a virtual keyboard on the screen in comparison with the conventional touch screen. 
     The functionality of the controller and other components (such as the firmware) according to aspects of the present invention may be recorded in computer-readable media including program instructions to implement various operations embodied by a computer. The media may also include, alone or in combination with the program instructions, data files, data structures, and the like. Examples of computer-readable media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tape; optical media such as CD ROM disks and DVD; magneto-optical media such as optical disks; and hardware devices that are specially configured to store and perform program instructions, such as read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), flash memory, and the like. The media may also be a transmission medium such as optical or metallic lines, wave guides, etc., including a carrier wave transmitting signals specifying the program instructions, data structures, etc. Examples of program instructions include both machine code, such as produced by a compiler, and files containing higher level code that may be executed by the computer using an interpreter. The described hardware devices may be configured to act as one or more software modules in order to perform the operations of the above-described embodiments of the present invention. Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in this embodiment without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents. 
     Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in this embodiment without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.