Abstract:
A method for providing a user interface of a portable music player. The method uses a tap sensitive sensor and a memory, the method includes detecting a tap and a direction of the tap, and finding an action corresponding to the tap using a tap-action table stored in the memory, wherein the table associates a detected tap comprising a direction of the tap with an action. Corresponding portable music players and computer program product are also presented.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The aspects of the invention generally relate to portable music players and more particularly to user input of portable mobile terminals.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     Mobile terminals, or mobile (cellular) telephones, for mobile telecommunications systems like GSM, UMTS, D-AMPS and CDMA2000 have been used for many years now. In the older days, mobile terminals were used almost exclusively for voice communication with other mobile terminals or stationary telephones. More recently, the use of modern terminals has been broadened to include not just voice communication, but also various other services and applications such as www/wap browsing, video telephony, electronic messaging (e.g. SMS, MMS, email, instant messaging), digital image or video recording, FM radio, music playback, exercise analysis, electronic games, calendar/organizer/time planner, word processing, etc. Furthermore, the modern terminals have local connectivity abilities, such as Bluetooth, allowing the mobile terminals to communicate with a wide array of devices.  
         [0003]     Being mobile, the mobile terminals are naturally often used while the user is moving. When in movement, it requires close attention by the user to provide user input to the mobile terminal.  
         [0004]     In the prior art, one attempt to simplify user interaction while in movement is to allow the user to control the mobile terminal with voice control. In this way, the user can speak commands into a microphone of the mobile terminal to control the mobile terminal. While this solution somewhat alleviates user interaction while mobile, it can be awkward to speak commands into a mobile phone, e.g. when using public transport. Additionally, it can sometimes be difficult for the mobile terminal to distinguish between the allowable commands, particularly if several users share usage of one terminal.  
         [0005]     Consequently, there is a need to provide a mobile communication terminal and method providing a user interface which is easier to use while the user is mobile.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]     In view of the above, an objective of the invention is to solve or at least reduce the problems discussed above.  
         [0007]     Generally, the above objectives are achieved by the attached independent patent claims.  
         [0008]     According to a first aspect of the invention there has been provided a method for providing a user interface of a portable music player comprising a tap sensitive sensor and a memory, the method comprising: detecting a tap and a direction of the tap, and finding an action corresponding to the tap using a tap-action table stored in the memory, wherein the table associates a detected tap comprising a direction of the tap with an action.  
         [0009]     The tap data may be differentiated between a double tap and a single tap by measuring a time difference between two subsequent taps in a same direction detected by the tap sensor and deciding whether this time difference is above or below a time threshold.  
         [0010]     The actions stored in the tap-action table may comprise the actions play, pause, next track and previous track, and the actions may be related to a media player application.  
         [0011]     The action of play may be associated with a direction being, within a margin of error from, a direction directed perpendicularly towards a display of the portable music player.  
         [0012]     The action of pause may be associated with a direction being, within a margin of error from, a direction directed perpendicularly towards a display of the portable music player.  
         [0013]     The action of next track may be associated with a direction being, within a margin of error from, a direction directed perpendicularly towards a first side surface of the portable music player.  
         [0014]     The action of previous track may be associated with a direction being, within a margin of error from, a direction directed perpendicularly towards a second side surface of the portable music player.  
         [0015]     The actions stored in the tap-action table may comprise at least a subset of the actions mute, unmute, next radio station and previous radio station, and the actions may be related to a radio application.  
         [0016]     The action of mute may be associated with a direction being, within a margin of error from, a direction directed perpendicularly towards a display of the portable music player.  
         [0017]     The action of unmute may associated with a direction being, within a margin of error from, a direction directed perpendicularly towards a display of the portable music player.  
         [0018]     The action of next radio station may be associated with a direction being, within a margin of error from, a direction directed perpendicularly towards a first side surface of the portable music player.  
         [0019]     The action of previous radio station may be associated with a direction being, within a margin of error from, a direction directed perpendicularly towards a second side surface of the portable music player.  
         [0020]     A second aspect of the invention is a portable music player comprising a memory, a controller and a tap sensitive sensor, wherein the tap sensitive sensor is configured to detect a tap and a direction of the tap, and the controller is configured to, upon receiving tap data from the tap sensitive sensor, find a corresponding action using a tap-action table stored in the memory wherein the table associates a detected tap comprising a direction of the tap with an action.  
         [0021]     The actions stored in the tap-action table may comprise the actions play, pause, next track and previous track.  
         [0022]     The controller may be configured to differentiate between a double tap and a single tap by measuring a time difference between two subsequent taps in a same direction detected by the tap sensor and deciding whether this time difference is above or below a time threshold.  
         [0023]     The tap sensitive sensor may comprise a motion sensor.  
         [0024]     The tap sensitive sensor may comprise an accelerometer.  
         [0025]     A third aspect of the invention is a portable music player configured to provide a user interface, the portable music player comprising: a controller, a tap sensitive sensor, means for detecting a tap and a direction of the tap, and means for finding an action corresponding to the tap using a tap-action table stored in the memory, wherein the table associates a detected tap comprising a direction of the tap with an action  
         [0026]     A fourth aspect of the invention is a computer program product comprising software instructions that, when executed in a portable music player, performs the method according to the first aspect.  
         [0027]     Other objectives, features and advantages of the present invention will appear from the following detailed disclosure, from the attached dependent claims as well as from the drawings.  
         [0028]     Generally, all terms used in the claims are to be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the technical field, unless explicitly defined otherwise herein. All references to “a/an/the [element, device, component, means, step, etc]” are to be interpreted openly as referring to at least one instance of the element, device, component, means, step, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise. The steps of any method disclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless explicitly stated. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0029]     Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in more detail, reference being made to the enclosed drawings, in which:  
         [0030]      FIG. 1  is a schematic illustration of a cellular telecommunication system, as an example of an environment in which the present invention may be applied.  
         [0031]      FIG. 2   a  is a schematic front view illustrating a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0032]      FIG. 2   b  is a schematic side view illustrating the mobile terminal in  FIG. 2   a.    
         [0033]      FIG. 3  is a schematic block diagram representing an internal component, software and protocol structure of the mobile terminal shown in  FIG. 2   a  and  2   b.    
         [0034]      FIG. 4  is a schematic diagram showing how operational modes can be switched in an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0035]      FIGS. 5   a ,  5   b  and  5   c  are a front, side and bottom view, respectively, of the mobile terminal of  FIG. 2   a , shown in a x-y-z co-ordinate system. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0036]     The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which certain embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided by way of example so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.  
         [0037]      FIG. 1  illustrates an example of a cellular telecommunications system in which the invention may be applied. In the telecommunication system of  FIG. 1 , various telecommunications services such as cellular voice calls, www/wap browsing, cellular video calls, data calls, facsimile transmissions, music transmissions, still image transmissions, video transmissions, electronic message transmissions and electronic commerce may be performed between a mobile terminal  100  according to the present invention and other devices, such as another mobile terminal  106  or a stationary telephone  132 . It is to be noted that for different embodiments of the mobile terminal  100  and in different situations, different ones of the telecommunications services referred to above may or may not be available; the invention is not limited to any particular set of services in this respect.  
         [0038]     The mobile terminals  100 ,  106  are connected to a mobile telecommunications network  110  through RF links  102 ,  108  via base stations  104 ,  109 . The mobile telecommunications network  110  may be in compliance with any commercially available mobile telecommunications standard, such as GSM, UMTS, D-AMPS, CDMA2000, FOMA and TD-SCDMA.  
         [0039]     The mobile telecommunications network  110  is operatively connected to a wide area network  120 , which may be Internet or a part thereof. An Internet server  122  has a data storage  124  and is connected to the wide area network  120 , as is an Internet client computer  126 . The server  122  may host a www/wap server capable of serving www/wap content to the mobile terminal  100 .  
         [0040]     A public switched telephone network (PSTN)  130  is connected to the mobile telecommunications network  110  in a familiar manner. Various telephone terminals, including the stationary telephone  132 , are connected to the PSTN  130 .  
         [0041]     The mobile terminal  100  is also capable of communicating locally via a local link  101  to one or more local devices  103 . The local link can be any type of link with a limited range, such as Bluetooth, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) link, a Wireless Universal Serial Bus (WUSB) link, an IEEE 802.11 wireless local area network link, an RS-232 serial link, etc. The local devices  103  can for example be various sensors that can communicate measurement values to the mobile terminal  100  over the local link  101 .  
         [0042]     An embodiment  200  of the mobile terminal  100  is illustrated in more detail in  FIG. 2   a . The mobile terminal  200  comprises a speaker or earphone  202 , a microphone  205 , a display  203  and a set of keys  204  which may include a keypad  204   a  of common ITU-T type (alpha-numerical keypad representing characters “0”-“9”, “*” and “#”) and certain other keys such as soft keys  204   b ,  204   c  and a joystick  211  or other type of navigational input device.  
         [0043]     A mode switch button  212  is also provided, as can be seen more clearly in  FIG. 2   b . The button is used to switch an operating mode of the mobile terminal. In this embodiment, the button is by default positioned in an upper position. When the user wants to switch modes, the button is moved to a lower position and released, after which the button returns to the default upper position by mechanical means, such as a spring or similar. As the man skilled in the art will realize, the functionality of the mode switch button could easily be replaced with a push button or any other suitable type of input device.  
         [0044]     The internal component, software and protocol structure of the mobile terminal  200  will now be described with reference to  FIG. 3 . The mobile terminal has a controller  300  which is responsible for the overall operation of the mobile terminal and is preferably implemented by any commercially available CPU (“Central Processing Unit”), DSP (“Digital Signal Processor”) or any other electronic programmable logic device. The controller  300  has associated electronic memory  302  such as RAM memory, ROM memory, EEPROM memory, flash memory, or any combination thereof. The memory  302  is used for various purposes by the controller  300 , one of them being for storing data and program instructions for various software in the mobile terminal. The software includes a real-time operating system  320 , drivers for a man-machine interface (MMI)  334 , an application handler  332  as well as various applications. The applications can include a personal exercise application  350 , a media player application  360 , as well as various other applications  370 , such as applications for voice calling, video calling, sending and receiving SMS, MMS or email, web browsing, an instant messaging application, a phone book application, a calendar application, a control panel application, a camera application, one or more video games, a notepad application, etc.  
         [0045]     The MMI  334  also includes one or more hardware controllers, which together with the MMI drivers cooperate with the display  336 / 203 , keypad  338 / 204  as well as various other I/O devices such as microphone, speaker, vibrator, ringtone generator, LED indicator, etc. As is commonly known, the user may operate the mobile terminal through the man-machine interface thus formed.  
         [0046]     The software also includes various modules, protocol stacks, drivers, etc., which are commonly designated as  330  and which provide communication services (such as transport, network and connectivity) for an RF interface  306 , and optionally a Bluetooth interface  308  and/or an IrDA interface  310  for local connectivity. The RF interface  306  comprises an internal or external antenna as well as appropriate radio circuitry for establishing and maintaining a wireless link to a base station (e.g. the link  102  and base station  104  in  FIG. 1 ). As is well known to a man skilled in the art, the radio circuitry comprises a series of analogue and digital electronic components, together forming a radio receiver and transmitter. These components include, i.a., band pass filters, amplifiers, mixers, local oscillators, low pass filters, AD/DA converters, etc.  
         [0047]     The mobile terminal also has a SIM card  304  and an associated reader. As is commonly known, the SIM card  304  comprises a processor as well as local work and data memory.  
         [0048]      FIG. 4  shows how operational modes can be switched in an embodiment of the present invention. The mobile terminal  400 , such as mobile terminal  200  of  FIG. 2   a , comprises a display  403 , such as display  203  of  FIG. 2   a , a joystick  411 , such as joystick  211  of  FIG. 2   a , and a mode switch button  412  such as mode switch button  212  of  FIG. 2   a  to allow the user to switch operational modes.  
         [0049]     Operational modes are modes where the mobile terminal  400  behaves in a specific way. For example,  FIG. 4  shows  3  operational modes: a phone mode  440 , an exercise mode  441  and a media player mode  442 .  
         [0050]     When the mobile terminal  400  is in the phone mode  440 , the mobile terminal behaves as a user would expect a regular mobile terminal to behave. In other words, a menu system and/or shortcuts allow the user to instruct the mobile terminal to perform a desired function, such as voice telephony, www/wap browsing, video telephony, electronic messaging (e.g. SMS, MMS, email, instant messaging), digital image or video recording, electronic games, calendar/organizer/time planner, word processing, etc.  
         [0051]     When the mobile terminal  400  is in the exercise mode  441 , the main purpose of the mobile terminal is to provide the user with applications related to the physical exercise of the user.  
         [0052]     In one embodiment, an accelerometer is integrated in the mobile terminal  400 . In another embodiment, an external accelerometer is connected to the mobile terminal  400 , e.g. over a local link, such as the local link  101  in  FIG. 1 . The accelerometer can detect acceleration and thereby steps that the user takes while the mobile terminal is carried by the user. When an accelerometer is integrated or connected to the mobile terminal  400 , the mobile terminal automatically measures movement during the day. If the user previously has entered personal information, such as weight, height, etc., the mobile terminal  400  can convert the data from the accelerometer to other measurements, such as covered distance and burnt calories. Optionally, a GPS (Global Positioning System) sensor can be either integrated in, or connected to, the mobile terminal  400  to allow accurate distance measurement. Also, an external heart beat monitor can be connected to the mobile terminal  400  to detect heart beats and calculate heart rate.  
         [0053]     When the mobile terminal  400  is in the media player mode  442 , the main purpose of the mobile terminal is to play media to the user. For example, the media player can play music or sound files, such as MP3 (mpeg-1 audio layer 3) files, AAC (advanced audio coding) files or ogg files. Optionally, the media player can also be used to listen to FM (frequency modulated) radio, or to play video files according to standards such as MPEG-2, MPEG-4 or H.323.  
         [0054]     As the user switches operational modes with mode switch button  412 , the modes are switched serially. In the illustrated embodiment, there is a list of operational modes consisting of the phone mode  440 , the exercise mode  441 , and the media player mode  442 , in that order. Consequently, if the mobile terminal  400  is in the phone mode  440  and the user actuates the mode switch button  412 , the phone switches to the exercise mode  441 . Similarly, if the mobile terminal  400  is in the exercise mode  441  and the user actuates the mode switch button  412 , the phone switches to the media player mode  442 . Finally, if the mobile terminal  400  is in the media player mode  443  and the user actuates the mode switch button  412 , the phone loops back and switches to the phone mode  440 .  
         [0055]     To allow the user to easily determine what mode is currently used, elements of the user interface are specific for each mode. There are a multitude of distinguishing user interface elements that can vary to allow the user to see what mode is currently active, e.g., a centrally located light by the joystick  411  can change color, the background on the display  403  can have different colors or appearances, or the entire theme of the user interface with colors and fonts can change. In one embodiment, one icon  414  of a set of icons  415  at the top of the display  403  is highlighted to indicate which mode is active.  
         [0056]     Mode changes can also change sound effects. For example in phone mode  440 , the sounds may be discrete or even absent for actions such as button press, enter menu, exit menu, while in exercise mode  441 , distinct and loud sounds are played for these actions to give clear feedback to the user while exercising. The media player mode  441  may have a totally different, more cool or ambient sound scheme on the actions mentioned in order to give feedback to the user on actions performed, while still not excessively disturbing the experience of listening to music. Optionally, the sound scheme can furthermore vary depending on whether headphones are connected to the mobile terminal  400  or not. The changes of sounds does not need to be totally different sounds; the changes could be effects applied to sounds. For example, a sound for a button press in phone mode could be reused in the media player mode, with a strong reverberation effect on it to give a more ambient effect while still providing familiarity to the user.  
         [0057]     Additionally, a temporary user indication can be given when the actual mode change occurs. For example, the vibrator may vibrate on a mode change, where the vibration is either always identical for all modes or every mode has a particular vibration associated with it. Additionally, a dialog can show the name of the new operational mode in the display  403 , or a sound effect or speech synthesizer pronouncing the new mode can be played to the user.  
         [0058]     It is to be noted that although the modes can be switched certain appropriate processing of an inactive mode can still be performed. For example, the exercise application can count the steps of the user in the background, regardless of what mode the mobile terminal is in. Similarly, the media player can let the user hear an FM radio station while the mobile terminal is in exercise mode, or the phone application can temporarily interrupt current processing if there an incoming phone call is detected.  
         [0059]      FIGS. 5   a ,  5   b  and  5   c  are a front, side and bottom view, respectively, of the mobile terminal of  FIG. 2   a , shown in a x-y-z co-ordinate system. It is here shown how tapping can be used to control certain aspects of the mobile terminal.  
         [0060]     In  FIG. 5   a , the media player  360  of the mobile terminal  500  is currently playing a song, as can be seen on the display  503 . If the user wants to skip to the next song, the user simply double-taps with his/her fingers, hand or pointing tool (e.g. pen or stylus) on the left side of the mobile terminal  500 , to invoke a next action  550 . The double-tap requires that a motion sensor, such as an accelerometer, is integrated or attached to the mobile terminal  500 . The motion sensor can be the accelerometer described above in conjunction with  FIG. 4 . The motion sensor generates a signal when the mobile terminal  500  is tapped which is analyzed by the controller in the mobile terminal  500 , such as controller  300  of  FIG. 3 , to distinguish a tap on the left side of the mobile terminal  500 . If two taps on the left side are detected within a certain period of time, the taps are considered a double-tap on the left, and the controller instructs the media player application to skip to the next track.  
         [0061]     Similarly, if a double-tap is detected on the right side of the mobile terminal  500 , a previous action  552  is determined and the controller instructs the media player to skip to a previous track. If a double-tap is detected on the front face of the mobile terminal, a play/pause action  554  is determined. This action is state dependent, such that if the player is currently not playing a track, i.e. the player is in a paused or stopped state, the controller instructs the media player to start playing. On the other hand, if the player is playing a track when the play/pause action  554  is determined, the controller instructs the media player to pause playing.  
         [0062]      FIG. 5   c  is a bottom view of the mobile terminal  500  illustrating directions of the double-tap controls. Here it can be seen that the left double-tap is essentially perpendicular to the front double-tap, which in turn is essentially perpendicular to the right double-tap. While it is by no means necessary that these directions are perpendicular to each other, it is beneficial as a relatively large margin of error can be utilized for each direction.  
         [0063]     The indicative line  560  shows a border between a left region where the tap is determined to be a left tap and a top region where the tap is determined to be a front tap. Similarly, the indicative line  562  shows a border between a top region where the tap is determined to be a top tap and a right region where the tap is determined to be a right tap. Also, the indicative line  564  shows a border between a left region where the tap is determined to be a left tap and a right region where the tap is determined to be a right tap. As can be seen, this results in rather large left, right, and top regions, respectively, allowing that the user is not perfectly accurate when the user taps the mobile terminal  500  to control the media player.  
         [0064]     It is to be noted that even though three different directions are shown here to control three different controls of the media player, any number of distinguishable directions can be used. Specifically, double-taps in a y-direction can be utilized to serve as an input.  
         [0065]     If the mobile phone  500  currently executes a FM radio, a next action  550  can trigger the radio to go to the next radio station. The next radio station can be determined as either a next radio station in a list of preset radio stations or it can be determined as a next available radio station with acceptable reception quality in the radio spectrum. Similarly, a previous action  552  triggers the radio to go the previous radio station. A play/pause action  554  can trigger that the radio toggles between an unmuted and a muted mode. It is to be noted that the radio application can be a separate radio application or it can be a specific mode of the previously mentioned media player application.  
         [0066]     While it is here presented that double-tapping controls the various actions described above, single tapping can equally well be utilized. If single tapping is used, extra consideration needs to be taken to be able to distinguish between a deliberate single tap and regular movement of the mobile terminal  500  due to the terminal being moved while being carried by a person.  
         [0067]     Although the invention has above been described using an embodiment in a mobile terminal, the invention is applicable to any type of music player, including portable mp3-players, etc.  
         [0068]     The invention has mainly been described above with reference to a few embodiments. However, as is readily appreciated by a person skilled in the art, other embodiments than the ones disclosed above are equally possible within the scope of the invention, as defined by the appended patent claims.