Abstract:
A method of selectively storing a display message in a mobile telephone is disclosed. The method comprises the steps of: displaying in an optical display unit of the mobile telephone a short message which is received in the mobile telephone; selecting a desired part of a character string from the displayed short message; and storing in a memory of the mobile telephone the selected character string. According to the invention, the reuse and re-display of the received information is made easy while effective utilization can be obtained of the memory capacity of the mobile telephone.

Description:
PRIORITY  
         [0001]    This application claims priority to an application entitled “METHOD OF SELECTIVELY STORING DISPLAY MESSAGE IN A MOBILE TELEPHONE” filed with the Korean Industrial Property Office on Aug. 10, 2000 and assigned Serial No. 2000-46294, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0003]    The present invention relates generally to a mobile telephone, and more particularly, to a method of selectively storing some portion of a character string of a message displayed in an optical display unit of a mobile telephone.  
           [0004]    2. Description of the Related Art  
           [0005]    A typical cellular mobile telephone system provides a transceiving function of short message information to a mobile telephone via a message center connected with a mobile switching center, so that a message of a predetermined length can be exchanged between telephones or between a telephone and a web. To accomplish this, the mobile telephone provides a function to receive and display the short message in the optical display unit and either store or cancel the whole short message by using a key pad.  
           [0006]    In practice, users may want to selectively process and store only a portion of the information from the messages received and displayed in the mobile telephone. For example, the received short message provided via a data service can include a name, contact information, or a telephone number.  
           [0007]    However, re-displaying the received short message by the user is not considered in the mobile telephone of the related art. The short message displayed in the optical display unit of the mobile telephone cannot be selectively stored and thus information is easily forgotten. The only alternative to this is to store the entire short message. However, there is a problem storing all the messages, since the mobile telephone has a memory with limited capacity.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0008]    It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a method by which a user can selectively store part of a displayed character string in a mobile telephone.  
           [0009]    To achieve the above and other objects, a method of selectively storing a displayed message in a mobile telephone is provided in accordance with the present invention. The method comprises the steps of: displaying in an optical display unit of the mobile telephone, a short message which is received in the mobile telephone; selecting a desired part of a character string from the displayed short message; and storing the selected character string in the mobile telephone memory. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]    The above and other objects will be more apparent when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 1 illustrates the internal structure of a mobile telephone according to an embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating the selective storage operation of a display message according to an embodiment of the present invention; and  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 3 is a detailed flow chart setting forth steps S 200  and S 300  of FIG. 2.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0014]    Hereinafter, in describing the operating principle of a preferred embodiment of the present invention in reference to the appended drawings, detailed descriptions about related known functions or structures will be omitted in the event that the detailed description thereof may unnecessarily obscure the substance of the invention.  
         [0015]    The present invention provides a method by which the user can selectively store part of a displayed character string in a mobile telephone. FIG. 1 illustrates the internal structure of a mobile telephone according to an embodiment of the invention.  
         [0016]    Referring to FIG. 1, the mobile telephone  10  for the purpose of transceiving a signal with a mobile telephone system including a base station, a mobile switching center and a message center the mobile telephone comprises a transmitter  11  including a modulator and a transmitting amplifier, a receiver  12  including a receiving amplifier and a demodulator, and a controller  13  for controlling the transceived signal. The controller  13  includes a digital signal processor, a microprocessor and other circuits and controls. The transmitter  11  and the receiver  12  modulate and demodulate signals, respectively, and are included so that the mobile telephone user can perform a number of mobile communication services, including performing a conversation or transceiving a short message with another user. The user performs audio conversation by using a speaker  14  and a microphone  15  of the mobile telephone, and is provided with a number of data services through an optical display unit  16  and a key pad  17 .  
         [0017]    If the signal received through the receiver  12  includes a short message or the data service includes a short message, the corresponding short message is displayed in the optical display unit  16 . Here, the optical display unit  16  can be realized as a liquid crystal display (LCD) for example, which includes a buffer of a small capacity to temporarily store the short message. In the present invention, the user can operate the key pad to select a part of the character string from the short message displayed in the optical display unit  16 , in which the selected character string is read from the buffer to be stored in a memory  18 . The memory  18  can be segmented into areas to store various system parameters or operating programs for operating the mobile telephone, and an area to store the character string.  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating the selective storage operation of a display message according to an embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated in FIG. 2, when the short message is displayed in the optical display unit  16  after being received in the mobile telephone  10  in step S 100 , the user selects a desired part of the character string from the displayed short message using the key pad  17  in step S 200 , and the controller  13  of the mobile telephone  10  stores the selected character string in the allocated storage area of the memory  18  in step S 300 .  
         [0019]    In one embodiment of the present invention, the allocated storage area can be constructed as a circular queue. The circular queue is composed of a number of small storage areas that can store a number of character strings wherein the size and the amount of each of the storage areas can be defined in designing the mobile telephone or by the user. The memory  18  is constructed as a non-volatile memory so that powering off the mobile telephone may not cancel the stored character string.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 3 is a detailed flow chart illustrating steps S 200  and S 300  in FIG. 2 in which such an operation is performed by the controller  13 .  
         [0021]    Referring to FIG. 3, when the short message is displayed in the optical display unit  16  after being received in the mobile telephone  10 , the controller  13  locates a cursor at the first letter in the uppermost left of the display message in step  210 . This operation is defined as “initialization of the cursor position”. When the initialization of the cursor position is completed, the controller waits for a key input from the user. When the user inputs a key by using the key pad  17 , the controller  13  analyzes the corresponding inputted key in step S 220 .  
         [0022]    If the inputted key is a direction key of up/down/right/left in step S 230 , the controller  13  displaces the position of the cursor corresponding to the inputted direction key in step S 235  and waits then for the next key input. For example, number keys in the key pad  17  can be utilized to realize the direction key such as  2  for the up,  8  for the down,  6  for the right and  4  for the left.  
         [0023]    If the inputted key is a block start key in step S 240 , the controller  13  stores the current cursor position as the start position of the character string to be stored at step S 245  and waits for the next key input. The block start key can be “RCL” key, “SEARCH” key, etc. in the key pad  17 .  
         [0024]    If the inputted key is a cancel key in step S 250 , the controller  13  cancels the previously stored start position and waits for the next key input in step S 255 . The cancel key can be “CLR” key, “Cancel” key, etc. in the key pad.  
         [0025]    If the inputted key is a block storage key in step S 260 , the controller  13  confirms if the start position is stored at step S 265  while regarding the current cursor position as the last position of the character string to be stored, and if the start position is stored, confirms if the current cursor position is after the start position in step S 270 . If the start position is not stored, the process returns to step S 220 . The process will also return to step S 220  if the current cursor position is not after the start position. Such an operation is performed because the character string to be stored cannot be specified if the current cursor position (last position) is in the start position. If the current cursor position is after the start position, the controller  13  reads the character string from the stored start position to the current cursor position in the whole message displayed in the optical display unit  16  from the buffer, stores the same in the allocated area of the memory  18  in step S 310 , and reports to the user that the storage of the selected character string is completed visually or audibly in step S 320 . The block storage key can be “STO” key, “SAVE” key, etc. in the key pad  17 .  
         [0026]    The character string stored like this can be read from the memory  18  upon request from the user to be re-displayed in the optical display unit  16  or used in the transmission of the short message by the user.  
         [0027]    According to an embodiment of the present invention which is operated as described in detail hereinbefore, part of the character string of the received short message can be chosen for selective storage so that the reuse and re-display of the received information is made easy, while only a necessary small amount of information is stored, effectively utilizing the memory capacity of the mobile telephone, which has a drawback in storing information of a large capacity.  
         [0028]    While a preferred embodiment has been described in the specification above, it should be understood that various modifications or variations could be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Therefore, the scope of the invention should be not restricted by the above described embodiment, but is defined by the following claims or the equivalents thereof.