Patent Publication Number: US-2007099642-A1

Title: Method and apparatus for displaying information directory in mobile communication terminal

Description:
PRIORITY  
      This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to an application filed in the Korean Intellectual Property Office on Nov. 3, 2005 and allocated Serial No. 2005-104910, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The present invention relates generally to a mobile communication terminal, and more particularly, to a method and an apparatus for displaying an information directory such as a phone directory in a mobile communication terminal by using spatial area information.  
      2. Description of the Related Art  
      The use of mobile communication terminals is rapidly increasing because they are easy to carry. Service providers and terminal manufacturers are competitively developing mobile communication terminals with various special functions to attract potential users. For example, mobile communication terminals have a phone directory function, a game function, a scheduler function, a short messaging services (SMS) function, an Internet connection function, an e-mailing function, a wake-up alarm function, an MP3 (MPEG Audio Layer-3) function, a digital camera function, and various other functions.  
      Generally, mobile communication terminals are capable of storing information such as a predetermined number of phone numbers and the names of their corresponding owners in the phone directory function. When a user manipulates keys on a keypad, the telephone numbers stored in the phone directory can be accessed, whereupon a sought telephone number can be displayed on a liquid crystal display (LCD) of the device, so that a user can make a call using the searched phone number.  
      When examining the process of searching for information such as a phone number in a conventional mobile terminal, the search menu of the phone directory is displayed on the display screen through key inputs of the user. Next, when the list of names or the list of telephone numbers to be searched is selected in the search menu, the terminal changes its mode to an input mode to receive an input search. Next, when the searched language is input, the terminal searches its memory for the corresponding name and lists the search results on the display. In this way, searches for phone numbers have been conducted. Furthermore, there is a method for filtering the phone directory data according to user-input characters and displaying the data. That is, when a phone number is searched for, the data in the phone directory is displayed in the display screen in a list format. Thus, the user must move to a category of focus and make a selection to obtain a specific piece of phone directory data.  
      In the above conventional method, searching for information such as a phone number in a mobile communication terminal involves several stages of manipulating keys—especially, in the case of inputting names, which requires two or more stages of pressing keys. Thus, the controlling process for arriving at a stage desired by a user (i.e., operating mode) is complex and cumbersome.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      An object of the present invention is to substantially solve at least the above problems and/or disadvantages and to provide at least the advantages below. Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a displaying method and apparatus of information directory such as a phone directory in a mobile communication terminal.  
      Another object of the present invention is to provide information directory such as a phone directory displaying method and apparatus capable of displaying all categories of phone directory data on a display using spatial area information.  
      According to one aspect of the present invention, a method for displaying a phone directory in a mobile communication terminal includes outputting types of performable search categories on a display unit and receiving a selection of one of the search categories, when a selection for a phone number search menu is detected; grouping phone numbers stored in the phone directory into items relating to the selected search category received, arranging and displaying the items as selectable widgets on the display unit; and enlarging one of the widgets upon selection thereof and displaying data stored therein.  
      According to another aspect of the present invention, a mobile communication terminal for displaying a phone directory is provided. In the mobile communication terminal, a display unit outputs types of performable search categories when a selection for a phone number search menu is detected. Upon selection of the types of performable search categories, a controller groups phone numbers stored in the phone directory into items relating to the selected search category, arranges and displays the items as selectable widgets, and enlarges one of the widgets upon selection thereof and displays data stored therein. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:  
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a mobile communication terminal according to the present invention;  
       FIG. 2  is a flowchart of a phone directory displaying method according to the present invention;  
       FIGS. 3A  to  3 C illustrate exemplary methods of searching for phone numbers according to the present invention;  
       FIG. 4  is an exemplary diagram of the sizes of widgets displayed on a screen of a mobile communication terminal according to the present invention, where the sizes correspond to the quantity of data in each widget; and  
       FIGS. 5A  to  5 D illustrate methods of displaying a phone directory on a mobile communication terminal according to the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
      Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described herein below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, well-known functions or constructions are not described in detail since they would obscure the invention in unnecessary detail.  
      Hereinafter, a displaying method of a phone directory in a mobile communication terminal according to the present invention will be described in detail. The below description includes, but is not limited to, SMS, e-mails, multimedia message system (MMS), and enhanced message service (EMS).  
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a mobile communication terminal according to the present invention. In the below description, the mobile communication terminal refers to a cellular phone, a Personal Communication System (PCS) terminal, a Personal Data Assistant (PDA), an International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 (IMT-2000) terminal, and other terminal types. The below description will be made referring to terminals with the general configuration of the above-described terminals.  
      Referring to  FIG. 1 , a controller (e.g., a microprocessor unit (MPU))  101  controls the overall operations of a mobile communication terminal. For instance, it performs processing and controlling for audio communication and data communication. In addition, the controller  101  controls a function of displaying a information directory such as a phone directory using spatial area information. The ROM  103  stores microcodes of programs for the controller  101  to process control and store various reference data. The ROM  103  especially stores programs for displaying the phone directory using spatial area information. RAM  105  is the working memory of the controller  101 , for storing temporary data generated during operations. A flash ROM  107  is used to store phone directory data and other renewable pieces of storage data.  
      The keypad  109  consists of a plurality of function keys including number keys for the numerals 0-9, a Menu key, a Cancel (Erase) key, an OK key, a Talk key, an End key, an Internet connection key, and navigational (or directional) keys. When a user presses a key, its corresponding input signal is sent to the controller  101 . The display unit  111  displays operating information during the operations of the mobile communication terminal, numerals and characters that have been entered, various moving images and still images, etc. The display unit  111  may by a color LCD.  
      The CODEC  113  is connected to the controller  101 , and the microphone  115  and the speaker  117  are connected to the CODEC  113 . The CODEC  113 , the microphone  115 , and the speaker  117  serve as an audio input/output block for voice communication. The CODEC  113  converts Pulse Coded Modulation (PCM) data provided from the controller  101  into analog audio signals to output the analog audio signal through the speaker  117 , and converts audio signals received through the microphone  115  into PCM data to provide the PCM data to the controller  101 .  
      The RF module  121  down-converts an RF signal received through the antenna  123  to provide the down-converted signal to the baseband processor  119 , and up-converts a baseband signal from the baseband processor  119  to transmit the up-converted signal through the antenna  123 . The baseband processor  119  processes a baseband signal transmitted and received between the RF module  121  and the controller  101 . For example, during a transmitting operation, the baseband processor  119  channel-codes and spreads data to be transmitted. During a reception operation, the baseband processor  119  despreads and channel-decodes a received signal.  
       FIG. 2  is a flowchart of a phone directory displaying method according to an embodiment of the present invention.  
      Referring to  FIG. 2 , the controller  101  detects whether there is a menu selection to search phone numbers made by a user using the keys in step  201 . When it is detected that a phone number search menu has been selected, the controller  101  displays a sub menu of the phone number search menu on the display unit  111  in step  203 . The sub menu is divided into the search categories ‘by name’, ‘by group’, and ‘by number’.  
      In step  205 , the controller  101  detects whether a user selects the ‘by name’, ‘by group’, or ‘by number’ search categories. When it is detected that there is no user selection through the keys for the by name, by group, or by number search categories, the controller  101  performs other modes.  
      When it is detected that there is a user selection through the keys for the ‘by name’ search category, the controller  101  performs a phone number search by name in step  207 . The searching of phone numbers by name may involve grouping the first characters of names corresponding to the phone numbers stored in the memory  107 , and displaying selectable widgets of the grouped initial characters in a certain arrangement on the display screen. The sizes of the widgets are made proportional to the number of data entries in each group of initial characters. The initial characters of the names may be the English letters A, B, C, D, E, F, etc., as shown in  FIG. 3A .  
      When key inputs for selecting search categories ‘by group’ are detected, the controller  101  searches phone numbers by group in step  209 . A user can create, add, or delete a certain group in the phone directory, and can store phone numbers by groups. Searching phone numbers by group may involve grouping the phone numbers stored in the memory  107  into groups, displaying the groups as selectable widgets, and arranging the widgets on a display screen. The sizes of the widgets are made proportional according to the number of data entries in each group. The phone directory may be grouped into categories such as ‘family’, ‘friends’, ‘school’, ‘work’, ‘clubs’, and ‘church’, as shown in  FIG. 3B .  
      When key inputs for selecting the ‘by number’ search category are detected, the controller  101  performs a phone number search by number in step  211 . The numbers may be sorted by their area codes, i.e., 02, 032, 061, etc., or by their mobile service providers&#39; prefixes, i.e., 011, 010, 016, 017, etc. The phone number search by number may involve grouping the phone directory stored in the memory  107  into prefix number groups, and displaying the grouped numbers in widgets arranged on the display screen. In other words, the phone numbers in the phone directory may be grouped by prefix numbers, as shown in  FIG. 3C . The sizes of the widgets are made proportional according to the number of data entries in each group. For example, when the stored number of phone numbers grouped in the first prefix group ‘011’ occupying region  401  increases, the size occupied by the widget corresponding to prefix group ‘011’ occupying region  401  increases proportionately to occupy region  403 , as shown in  FIG. 4 . When phone numbers in prefix group ‘011’ are deleted, the region taken up by the corresponding widget becomes smaller. Also, an alternate region may be provided according to an expressly-designated preference by a user.  
      After the phone number search by name, by group, or by number that has been selected by a user is performed, the controller  101  detects in step  213  whether there is a key input by the user for selecting a desired category, for example, a selection of a certain widget displayed on the display screen. When it is detected that a certain category is selected, the controller  101  displays the contents of the selected category on the display unit  111  in step  215 . In an example shown in  FIG. 5 , when the user presses keys to select a phone number search by name  501  from the phone number search menus in the phone directory (as shown in  FIG. 5A ), the phone number search by name is performed and displayed on the display unit  111  (as shown in  FIG. 5B ). Specifically, the selectable ‘by name’ category is displayed in a region of the screen dimensionally proportional to the number of phone numbers stored therein. Here, the user may select an initial character from a name entry—for example “L”  503  from the entry “Lee, M.S.” The selection from the categories, that is, the selection of an initial character may be accomplished using the directional keys and the ‘OK’ key or by entering characters from the 3×4 numerical keypad. When a certain category is selected by the user through the keys (for example, ‘L’ from ‘Lee, M.S.’), a zoom-in of the category is performed for displaying the contents  505  in the category. Thus, names  505  beginning with the letter ‘L’ can be displayed in the display unit  111 .  
      In step  217 , the controller  101  determines if there has been an enlarging key input. When it is there is no detection of such an input, the controller  101  returns to step  213  to continuously determine whether the user selects a search for a desired category. When an input of the enlarging key is detected, the controller  101  displays the specific contents of the selected category on the display unit  111  in step  219 . Referring to  FIG. 5 , a rectangular border  507  appears around one of the names  505  beginning with ‘L’. The portion selected by the border may be enlarged with the enlarging key. The enlarging through the enlarging key can be performed not only with graphics, but also with motion. When the enlarging key for enlarging a name selected by the rectangular boundary is pressed, detailed stored information corresponding to that name (for example, phone numbers) may be displayed in the display unit  111 , as shown in  FIG. 5D . The user can then select the searched phone number to make a call. Next, the controller  101  ends the algorithms of the present invention.  
      As described above, the present invention provides a phone directory displaying method that can visually present information in the phone directory application by using the spatial area information. Components such as graphics and motion may be added to the phone directory of the mobile terminal, whose content is mostly in a text format, to provide users with a new experience, satisfy their various aspirations, and depart from the mundane. Additionally, the entire phone directory can be represented on the small screen of the mobile terminal, and data can be selected without inputting text but using only directional keys and the OK/Cancel keys, for improved search efficiency. Moreover, the amount of phone numbers each category stores corresponds to the displayed size of the category on the screen, giving a user a rough idea of how many phone numbers are in each group, relatively. When the user confirms the selected category, the category is enlarged to visually provide the names stored in the category. When the enlarged category is further enlarged, a new, interactive user interface that provides further details can be accessed. Furthermore, the amount of information provided in each level to the user can be adjusted to display an optimum amount of information according to the amount of data that can be displayed on one screen.  
      The above method according to the present invention may be described as a method for displaying an information directory in a mobile communication terminal. The method comprises displaying search categories when search function is selected, selecting one of the search categories, grouping information stored in the information directory into items relating to the selected search category, displaying the items as selectable widgets and enlarging one of the widgets upon selection thereof and displaying data stored therein.  
      Also, a mobile communication terminal for displaying an information directory comprises a display unit for displaying search categories when an information search menu is detected and a controller for, upon selection of the search categories, grouping sub-information stored in the information directory into items relating to the selected search category, displaying the items as selectable widgets, and enlarging one of the widgets upon selection thereof and displaying data stored therein.  
      While the invention has been shown and described with reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.