Abstract:
An application driving method according to a situation condition using a combination of application state conditions is provided. The method comprises setting a situation condition by combining state conditions of a condition application, selected among applications installed in a smart device, using a logic operator, thereby enabling a user to set the situation condition in accordance with the purpose and taste of the user by combining the applications installed in the smart device; monitoring by the smart device whether the condition application satisfies the state conditions and driving an operating application when the situation condition is “TRUE,” thereby automatically driving a customized application according to the states of the user. Furthermore, according to the present invention, a user can utilize various kinds of applications, and thus a user&#39;s satisfaction can be improved, contrary to using applications individually.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S) 
       [0001]    This application is a continuation application, claiming the benefit under §365(c), of an International application filed on Jul. 3, 2013 and assigned application number PCT/KR2013/005917, which claimed the benefit of a Korean patent application filed on Mar. 29, 2013 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office and assigned Serial number 10-2013-0034302, the entire disclosure of each of which is hereby incorporated by reference. 
     
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0002]    The present invention generally relates to an application driving method. More particularly, the present invention relates to an application driving method according to a situation condition using a combination of application state conditions. 
       BACKGROUND ART 
       [0003]    With the rapid popularization of smart devices, various types of applications have been developed and are used on the smart devices. Although these applications are generally developed and manufactured by professional engineers, as ordinary persons&#39; interest in developing applications has recently increased, and institutes or books for developing applications are helping such amateur enthusiasts develop their own applications, there is an increase in number of cases where an application developed by a layperson is registered in market. 
         [0004]    Furthermore, users want to receive services according to their personal needs, including cases where a desired application is automatically driven if necessary. However, there is a limitation in that a service provider provides services in consideration of diverse user situations. Accordingly, although an existing application may be service provider-oriented, development of application by the service provider may not satisfy the demands of service consumers. Therefore consumers have stepped up efforts to develop diverse applications themselves. 
         [0005]    However, not only it is difficult to directly develop an application at present, but also it requires a certain procedure to apply the application to smart devices and to use it. In particular, in order to use the developed application with other users together, the application needs to be registered in an application market, which causes various bothersome limitations. Accordingly, it is urgent to develop a technique for providing a service suitable for a user&#39;s situation without complex problems such as development or registration of the application. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0006]    Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the related art, and an object of the present invention is to provide an application driving method according to a situation condition using a combination of application state conditions, which is capable of combining applications installed in a smart device to set a situation condition in order to be suitable for a purpose and preference of a user by combining state conditions of a conditional application, which is selected from among applications installed in the smart device, using a logical operator to set the situation condition, the application driving method being capable of automatically driving a customized application according to the user&#39;s situation, if the situation condition is true, when the smart device monitors whether the conditional application satisfies the state conditions, and being capable of improving user satisfaction, compared to a case where the applications are individually used, since the user may use various applications. 
         [0007]    In order to accomplish the above object(s), the present invention provides an application driving method according to a situation condition using a combination of application state conditions by a smart device with a plurality of applications installed therein. The application driving method includes: 
         [0008]    (1) providing a list of applications used for setting a situation condition and used to be driven among the applications installed in the smart device; 
         [0009]    (2) receiving selections for at least one conditional application used for setting the situation condition and a driving application driven when the situation condition is true from among the applications included in the provided list; 
         [0010]    (3) combining state conditions of the selected at least one conditional application by using a logical operator to set the situation condition; 
         [0011]    (4) monitoring whether the at least one conditional application satisfies the state conditions to determine whether the situation condition is true; and 
         [0012]    (5) driving the driving application, when the situation condition is true as the determination result. 
         [0013]    In step (2), when no selection exists for the driving application, a pre-determined base application may be selected as the driving application. 
         [0014]    The application driving method may further include (0) registering the application used for setting a situation condition and used to be driven before step (1), wherein in step (1), the list of the registered application is provided. 
         [0015]    The application driving method may further include recommending an application used for setting a situation condition and used to be driven, which is uninstalled in the smart device before step (0). 
         [0016]    The application driving method may further include recommending, by a smart device, a situation condition before step (2); and receiving a selection for any one of the recommended situation conditions, wherein in step (2), the at least one conditional application and driving application are selected according information on the selected situation condition, and in step (3), state conditions of the selected at least one conditional application are combined by using a logical operator to set as the selected situation condition. 
         [0017]    The application driving method may further include receiving, by the smart device, a state condition of the at least one conditional application before step (3). 
         [0018]    The application driving method may further include providing, by the smart device, a logical operator used for forming the situation condition and receiving a selection for the logical operator before step (3), wherein in step (3), the state conditions of the at least one conditional application are combined by using the selected logical operator to set the situation condition. 
         [0019]    The application driving method may further include receiving to set, by the smart device, a driving condition of the driving application before step (4), wherein in step (5), the driving application is driven according to the set driving condition. 
         [0020]    According to an application driving method according to a situation condition using a combination of application state conditions proposed herein, applications installed in a smart device may be combined to set a situation condition in order to be suitable for a purpose and preference of a user by combining state conditions of a conditional application, which is selected from among applications installed in the smart device, using a logical operator to set the situation condition, thus a customized application may be automatically driven according to the user&#39;s situation, if the situation condition is true, when the smart device monitors whether the conditional application satisfies the state condition, and since the user may use various applications, user satisfaction may be improved compared to a case where the applications are individually used. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         [0021]      FIG. 1  is a view illustrating a flow of an application driving method according to a situation condition using a combination of application state conditions according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0022]      FIG. 2  is a view illustrating an exemplary smart device for setting a situation condition in an application driving method according to a situation condition using a combination of application state conditions according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0023]      FIG. 3  is a view illustrating an exemplary smart device for setting a state condition of a conditional application in an application driving method according to a situation condition using a combination of application state conditions according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0024]      FIG. 4  is a view illustrating an exemplary smart device for checking a situation condition in an application driving method according to a situation condition using a combination of application state conditions according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0025]      FIG. 5  is a view illustrating an exemplary smart device in which a driving application is driven in an application driving method according to a situation condition using a combination of application state conditions according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0026]      FIG. 6  is a view illustrating a detailed flow of a process for registering an application in an application driving method according to a situation condition using a combination of state conditions of applications according to an embodiment of the present invention; and 
           [0027]      FIG. 7  is a view illustrating a detailed flow of a process for recommending to set a situation condition in an application driving method according to a situation condition using a combination of application state conditions according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE REFERENCE NUMERALS IN THE DRAWINGS 
       [0000]    
       
         
           
               10 : APPLICATION 
               11 : CONDITIONAL APPLICATION 
               12 : DRIVING APPLICATION 
               20 : LOGICAL OPERATOR 
               100 : SMART DEVICE 
             S 10 : RECOMMEND APPLICATION 
             S 20 : REGISTER APPLICATION USED FOR SETTING AND DRIVING SITUATION CONDITION 
             S 100 : PROVIDE APPLICATION LIST 
             S 150 : RECOMMEND SITUATION CONDITION 
             S 160 : RECEIVE SELECTION FOR ANY ONE OF RECOMMENDED SITUATION CONDITIONS 
             S 200 : RECEIVE SELECTIONS FOR CONDITIONAL APPLICATION AND DRIVING APPLICATION 
             S 250 : RECEIVE STATE CONDITION OF CONDITIONAL APPLICATION 
             S 260 : PROVIDE LOGICAL OPERATOR AND RECEIVE SELECTION 
             S 300 : COMBINE STATE CONDITIONS OF CONDITIONAL APPLICATION USING LOGICAL OPERATOR TO SET SITUATION CONDITION 
             S 350 : RECEIVE TO SET DRIVING CONDITION OF DRIVING APPLICATION 
             S 400 : MONITOR WHETHER CONDITIONAL APPLICATION SATISFIES STATE CONDITION TO DETERMINE WHETHER SITUATION CONDITION IS TRUE 
             S 500 : DRIVE DRIVING APPLICATION WHEN SITUATION CONDITION IS TRUE 
           
         
       
     
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0045]    Reference should now be made to the drawings, in which the same reference numerals are used throughout the different drawings to designate the same or similar components. 
         [0046]    Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that the present invention can be easily realized by those skilled in the art. Further, when it is determined that the detailed description of the related functions and constructions would obscure the gist of the present invention, the description thereof will be omitted. In addition, like reference numerals refer to elements having like functions and operations throughout the drawings. 
         [0047]    In addition, if certain parts are described as being connected to other parts, they are not only directly connected to the other parts, but also indirectly connected to the other parts with any other device intervened therebetween. In addition, when an element is referred to as “comprising” or “including” a component, it does not preclude another component but may further include the other component unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. 
         [0048]      FIG. 1  is a view illustrating a flow of an application driving method according to a situation condition using a combination of state conditions of applications according to an embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated in  FIG. 1 , an application driving method according to a situation condition using a combination of application state conditions according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a step S 100  for providing an application list, a step S 200  for receiving selections of at least one conditional application and driving application, a step S 300  for combining state conditions of the at least one conditional application using a logical operator to set a situation condition, a step S 400  for monitoring whether the at least one conditional application satisfies the state conditions to determine whether the situation condition is true, and a step S 500  for driving the driving application when the situation condition is true, and further includes a step S 250  for receiving the state conditions of the at least one conditional application, a step S 260  for providing the logical operator and receiving the selection, and a step S 350  for receiving to set a driving condition of the driving application. 
         [0049]      FIG. 2  is a view illustrating an exemplary smart device  100  for setting a situation condition in an application driving method according to a situation condition using a combination of application state conditions according to an embodiment of the present invention. An application driving method according to a situation condition using a combination of state conditions of an application  10  according to an embodiment of the present invention may be realized through a smart device  100  in which a plurality of applications  10  is installed. The smart device  100  is a product of which functions are not limited and may be changed or extend through the application  10 , and includes a smartphone, smart note, tablet PC, smart camera, smart TV, or the like. However, the smart device  100  of the present invention is not limited to the terminal listed above, and a terminal, in which the plurality of applications  10  may be installed and combined to be driven in order to be suitable for a user&#39;s situation condition, may play a role of the smart device  100  of the present invention. 
         [0050]    According to an application driving method according to a situation condition using a combination of state conditions of the application  10  according to an embodiment of the present invention, the situation condition may be set by combining state conditions of the at least one conditional application  11  that is selected from among the applications  10  installed in the smart device  100 . The smart device  100  may provide an interface illustrated in  FIG. 2  in order to set the situation condition, and a user of the smart device  100  may easily set the situation condition by using the provided interface. The smart device  100  may monitor whether the at least one conditional application  11  satisfies the state conditions to determine whether the situation condition, which is a combination of the state conditions, is true and may drive the driving application  12  when the situation condition is true. 
         [0051]    Like this, the user of the smart device  100  may combine the applications  10  installed in the smart device  100  to set the situation condition to be suitable for a user&#39;s purpose and preference, and may allow the applications  10 , which are customized according to the user&#39;s situation, to be automatically driven by driving the driving application  12  to notify that the situation condition is satisfied, when the user&#39;s situation condition is satisfied. 
         [0052]    Hereinafter, each step of an application driving method according to a situation condition using a combination of state conditions of an application  10  according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail. 
         [0053]    In step S 100 , the smart device  100  may provide a list of the applications  10  used for setting and driving a situation condition among the applications  10  installed in the smart device  100 . The smart device  100  has various applications  10  installed therein, and among the various applications  10 , the list of the applications  100  available for setting the situation condition and for being driven may be provided to the user in step S 100 . For example, the list may be provided in a field of “application” illustrated in  FIG. 2 . At this point, whether the applications  100  are available for setting the situation condition and for being driven may be determined by the smart device  100  through a function search for the installed applications  10  or may be set by user&#39;s registration. 
         [0054]    In step S 200 , the smart device  100  may receive a selection for at least one conditional application  11  to be used for the situation condition setting and a selection for the driving application  12  to be driven when the situation condition is true from among the applications  10  included in the list. In other words, in step S 200 , from among the applications  10  provided in step S 100 , the at least one conditional application  11  and the driving application  12  may be selected according to user selections. For example, as a screen illustrated in  FIG. 2 , the user may drag and drop an icon of the application  10  to a “condition” field to select the at least one conditional application  11 , and drag and drop that to a “driving” field to select the driving application  12 . At this point, the at least one conditional application  11  may be an application for forming the situation condition through combination by the logical operator  20 , and the driving application  12  may be an application that plays a role for notifying the user of the situation condition being true and is required to be driven according to the situation condition. 
         [0055]    Furthermore, in step S 200 , when the driving application  12  is not selected, a pre-determined base application  10  may be selected as the driving application  12 . At this point, the pre-determined base application  10  may be a message transmission application  10  or the like. In other words, when the user does not select a separate driving application, the user may be notified that the situation condition is true through a message, such as a push message. 
         [0056]    In step S 250 , the smart device  100  may receive the state condition of the at least one conditional application  11 . At this point, the state condition may be a condition for collecting information on a current state or the like by using a function of the at least one conditional application  11 . For example, when the at least one conditional application  11  is a weather information application  10 , the state condition may be “rain”, and when the at least one conditional application  11  is a position information application  10 , the state condition may be “current position”. 
         [0057]      FIG. 3  is a view illustrating an exemplary smart device  100  for setting a state condition in an application driving method according to a situation condition using a combination of application state conditions according to an embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated in  FIG. 3 , in step S 250  of an application driving method according to a situation condition using a combination of state conditions of an application  10  according to an embodiment of the present invention, the state condition of the weather information application  10 , which is a type of the at least one conditional application  11 , may be input as “rain, snow, or rain or snow”, or the like. In other words, in a situation condition setting screen illustrated in  FIG. 2 , when the user touches or clicks the weather information application  10  of the at least one conditional application  11 , only a state condition setting screen as illustrated in  FIG. 3  may be output to allow the user to easily set the state condition for a corresponding conditional application  11 . As illustrated in  FIG. 3 , the state condition may be selected in plurality, and when the selected state conditions are not satisfied at the same time, the state condition may be set through a logical OR (i.e. union). 
         [0058]    Furthermore, according to an embodiment, each condition application  11  may be executed to set the state condition in advance. In this case, step S 250  may be automatically processed by receiving a state condition preset for each conditional application  11  from a corresponding conditional application  11 . 
         [0059]    In step S 260 , the smart device  100  may provide the logical operator  20  used for forming the situation condition and receive a selection by the logical operator  20 . At this point, as an element for configuring a logical expression, the logical operator  20  may include a logical AND (or ∩), logical OR (or ∪), or logical NOT, and may further include a logical exclusive-OR (i.e. XOR). In addition, in step S 260 , elements may be further provided which are necessary for configuring the logical expression, such as parentheses that represent a calculation sequence of the logical expression. For example, in the situation condition setting screen illustrated in  FIG. 2 , the logical operator  20  may be selected by drag-and-dropping any one of the logical operators  20  to the condition field. 
         [0060]    In step S 300 , the smart device  100  may combine the state conditions of the selected at least one conditional application  11  by using the logical operator  20  to set the situation condition. In other words, the smart device  100  may set the situation condition by combining the state conditions set for the at least one conditional application  11  selected in step S 200  through the logical operator  20 , and at this point, may set the situation condition by performing the combination through the logical operator  20  selected in step S 260 . Furthermore, in step S 300 , the situation condition may be set by inputting a title thereof. When the title is input to set the situation condition and stored, the user may easily grasp which situation condition is thereafter and edit it. 
         [0061]    For example, from the example illustrated in  FIG. 2 , when the state condition of the at least one conditional application  11  is set to be “1 hour before wake-up time” for the time application  11 , and “snow, rain, or snow or rain” for the weather information application  11 , since the time and weather information applications  11  are combined by a logical AND (i.e. ∩) among the logical operators  20 , the situation condition may be set to be “the weather is snow, rain, or snow or rain at one hour before the wake-up time”. In  FIG. 2 , since the wake-up alarm application  12  is selected as the driving application  12  under this situation condition, when this situation condition is satisfied, the wake-up alarm application  12  may be driven. 
         [0062]      FIG. 4  is a view illustrating an exemplary smart device  100  for setting a situation condition in an application driving method according to a situation condition using a combination of application state conditions according to an embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated in  FIG. 4 , in step S 300  of an application driving method according to a situation condition using a combination of state conditions of an application  10  according to an embodiment of the present invention, the situation condition generated by the combination of state conditions of the at least one conditional application  11  may be output as a popup message or the like to allow the user to check it. When the user erroneously selects the application  10  or logical operator  20  to set the situation condition, since the application  10  may be driven at an unwanted time, as illustrated in  FIG. 4 , the situation condition may be set after user&#39;s checking. 
         [0063]    In step S 350 , the smart device  100  may receive to set a driving condition of the driving application  12 . The driving condition may be a condition for setting a driving state of the driving application  12 , when the situation condition set in step S 300  is satisfied to drive the driving application  12 . For example, in the above described example, an alarm sound of the wake-up alarm or whether to repeat the wake-up alarm may be the driving condition. In addition, for a bible phrase application  10 , the driving condition may be to allow a bible passage to be connected from a section part having been read before or to allow an arbitrary section to be presented. 
         [0064]    In step S 400 , the smart device  100  may monitor whether the at least one conditional application  11  satisfies the state condition to determine whether the situation condition is true. In other words, the smart device  100  may collect information related to the set state conditions from the at least one conditional application  11  to monitor, and when a predetermined state condition is “True”, may determine that the situation condition is true. 
         [0065]    For example, in the example illustrated in  FIG. 2 , the set wake-up time information may be obtained from the wake-up alarm application  10  and current time information may be collected from the time application  11 . When the state condition for the time application  11  is one hour before the wake-up time and the set wake-up time information obtained from the wake-up alarm application  10  is 7, whether to be 6 am may be monitored by obtaining the current time information from the time application  11  at a pre-determined time interval. When it is 6 am and the state condition for the time application  11  is “True”, it is required to determine whether the state condition for the weather information application  11 , which is combined by a logical AND, is “True”. Accordingly, the current weather information is obtained from the weather information application  11  at 6 am and when the current weather information is snow, rain, or snow or rain, the smart device  100  may determine that the situation condition, which is combined by logical ANDing of two conditional applications  11 , is true. 
         [0066]    In step S 500 , as the determination result in step S 400 , when the situation condition is true, the smart device  100  may drive the driving application  12 . At this point, in step S 500 , the smart device  100  may drive the driving application  12  according to the driving condition set in step S 350 . However, when there is not the set driving condition, the smart device  100  may drive the driving application  12  in an initial state that is typically output from executions of the driving application  12 . 
         [0067]      FIG. 5  is a view illustrating an exemplary smart device  100  in which the driving application  12  is driven in an application driving method according to a situation condition using a combination of application state conditions according to an embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated in  FIG. 5 , in step S 500  of an application driving method according to a situation condition using a combination of application state conditions according to an embodiment of the present invention, the wake-up alarm application  12 , which is the driving application  12 , may be driven, when the current weather information is rain at 6 am and the situation condition is true. In other words, since a wake-up time is internally set at 7 am with the wake-up application  12 , the wake-up alarm may ring at 7 am. However, when it rains or snows, since the situation condition is true, the wake-up alarm may ring at 6 am. At this point, according to the driving information set in step S 350 , an alarm sound, which is different from the sound that rings at 7 am, may be output and when the alarm is terminated, the alarm may repeatedly ring for the predetermined number of times. 
         [0068]      FIG. 6  is a view illustrating a detailed flow of a process for registering an application  10  in an application driving method according to a situation condition using a combination of state conditions of applications  10  according to an embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated in  FIG. 6 , in an application driving method according to a situation condition using a combination of state conditions of applications  10  according to an embodiment of the present invention, the applications  10  may be registered through step S 20  for registering the application  10  used for setting a situation condition and used to be driven, and step S 10  for recommending an application  10  may be further included. 
         [0069]    In step S 10 , the smart device  100  may recommend the applications  10  used for setting a situation condition and used to be driven, which is uninstalled in the smart device  100 . In other words, through the application driving method according to a situation condition using a combination of state conditions of applications according to an embodiment of the present invention, the application may be recommended in order to provide a more efficient driving service for a customized application  10  according to the user&#39;s situation. Through step S 10 , more various applications  10  may be used and application transactions may be activated. 
         [0070]    In step S 20 , the smart device  100  may register the application  10  used for setting a situation condition and used to be driven. In step S 100 , a list of the applications  10  registered in step S 20  may be provided. At this point, in step S 20 , the smart device  100  may automatically search the applications  10  installed therein for the application  10  necessary for setting and driving the situation condition, but according to an embodiment, the user may select a necessary application  10  and register it. 
         [0071]      FIG. 7  is a view illustrating a detailed flow of a process for recommending and setting a situation condition in an application driving method according to a situation condition using a combination of application state conditions according to an embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated in  FIG. 7 , in the application driving method according to a situation condition using a combination of application state conditions according to an embodiment of the present invention, a situation condition is recommended and the recommended situation condition may be set through step S 150  for recommending the situation condition and step S 160  for receiving a selection for any one of the recommended situation conditions. 
         [0072]    In step S 150 , the smart device  100  may recommend a situation condition. In other words, before the user directly selects the at least one conditional application  11 , driving application  12 , logical operator  20 , and the like, the smart device  100  may recommend in advance a pre-combined situation condition to allow the user to use it. The user may feel difficulty in selecting the at least one conditional application  11  to combine them through the logical operator  20  in order to set a desired situation condition. Accordingly, in step S 150 , a previously combined situation condition may be recommended to allow the user to easily set the situation condition. 
         [0073]    In step S 160 , the smart device  100  may receive a selection for any one of the recommended situation conditions. In other words, the user, who browses the recommended situation conditions, may select to use any one thereof. In step S 200 , the at least one conditional application  11  and the driving application  12  are selected according to information on the situation condition selected in step S 160 , and in step S 300 , state conditions of the selected at least one conditional application  11  are combined by using the logical operator  20  to be set as the selected situation condition. At this point, the state condition of the at least one conditional application  11  is changeable to be suitable for the user and accordingly the user may change the recommended situation condition to a desired situation condition and use it. 
         [0074]    Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.