Patent Publication Number: US-2007097095-A1

Title: Apparatus and method for recognizing and transmitting handwritten data in a 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 Oct. 31, 2005 and assigned Serial No. 2005-102765, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The present invention generally relates to an apparatus and method for recognizing and transmitting handwritten data in a mobile communication terminal, and in particular, to an apparatus and method for transmitting handwritten data input through a glide sensor during a messenger conversation in a mobile communication terminal, thereby expressing a user&#39;s personality.  
      2. Description of the Related Art  
      The use of mobile communication terminals is widespread because of their portability. Accordingly, service providers and mobile terminal manufacturers are competitively developing mobile communication terminals with more convenient functions in order to attract more users.  
      Mobile communication terminals normally provide a variety of additional functions and services, such as a phone book function, a game function, a scheduler function, a short message service, a multimedia message service, a cell broadcasting service, an Internet service, an e-mail service, a morning call function, an MPEG Layer 3 (MP3) function, a digital camera function, and so on.  
      Among the additional functions and services, the short message service is most widely used. Due to the recent tendency to prefer a short message service rather than a call function, mobile communication terminals provide various message services, such as a multimedia message service, a cell broadcasting service, and an e-mail service, in addition to a short message service.  
      Although message services of mobile communication terminals have been expanded, they take a relatively long time to receive and send a message. Thus, there is great interest in mobile messenger services that can send and receive a message in real time.  
      However, most message services including mobile messenger services cannot sufficiently express a user&#39;s personality because their functions are very similar to one another. In addition, data communication speed has to increase to improve messenger service value.  
      Therefore, a need exists for technical support that can provide various fonts and images and increase data input speed.  
     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 an apparatus and method for recognizing and transmitting handwritten data in a mobile communication terminal.  
      Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for inputting handwritten data through a glide sensor during a messenger conversation and transmitting the input handwritten data in a mobile communication terminal, thereby increasing data input speed and expressing a user&#39;s personality.  
      A further object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for easily inputting information that is difficult to express through simple texts by providing a function of editing handwritten data in various ways.  
      According to one aspect of the present invention, a method for transmitting handwritten data in a mobile communication terminal includes disabling a key input function of a keypad to receive handwritten data when a handwriting mode is set; driving a pressure sensor for sensing a pressing of the keypad; determining whether the handwritten data is input through the pressure sensor; displaying input handwritten data on a display unit when the handwritten data is input through the pressure sensor; and transmitting the handwritten data.  
      According to another aspect of the present invention, an apparatus for sensing handwritten data in a mobile communication terminal includes a keypad for transmitting a pressing of the keypad; a pressure sensor for sensing pressure generated by pressing the keypad; and a controller for recognizing sensed pressure to generate handwritten data. 
    
    
     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 illustrating a method for recognizing and transmitting handwritten data during a messenger conversation in a mobile communication terminal according to the present invention; and  
       FIGS. 3A and 3B  are diagrams of a display screen in which a message is input in a handwriting mode during a messenger conversation in 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 because they would obscure the present invention in unnecessary detail.  
      The present invention provides an apparatus and method for transmitting handwritten data input through a pressure sensor during a messenger conversation in a mobile communication terminal. Handwritten data means text or image data that are written by a user&#39;s hand.  
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a mobile communication terminal according to the present invention. Mobile communication terminal examples may include, but not limited to, a cellular phone, a Personal Communication System (PCS) terminal, a Personal Data Assistant (PDA), an International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 (IMT-2000) terminal, etc. The following descriptions will be made with a general structure of the above terminals.  
      The mobile communication terminal includes a controller (e.g., a microprocessor unit (MPU))  100 , a read only memory (ROM)  102 , a random access memory (RAM)  104 , a flash ROM  106 , a glide sensor  108 , a keypad  110 , a display unit  112 , a coder-decoder (CODEC)  114 , a microphone  116 , a speaker  118 , an antenna  120 , a radio frequency (RF) module  122 , and a baseband processor  124 .  
      Controller  100  controls an overall operation of the mobile communication terminal. For example, controller  100  processes and controls voice communication and data communication. In addition, controller  100  performs a function of recognizing/editing/transmitting handwritten data input through a pressure sensor. Handwritten data can be input by a stylus pen or a hand through a touch screen or a touch screen. A detailed description about the general control operation of controller  100  will be omitted for conciseness.  
      ROM  102  stores a variety of reference data and microcodes of a program for the process and control operation of controller  100 . According to the present invention, ROM  102  stores a program for recognizing handwritten data input through the pressure sensor, a program for editing input handwritten data, and a program for transmitting input handwritten data to several conversation partners in a messenger conversation. RAM  104  is a working memory of controller  100 , and stores temporary data generated during operations. Flash ROM  106  stores a variety of updatable data, such as a phone book, an outgoing message, an incoming message, etc.  
      Keypad  110  includes numeric keys of digits 0-9 and a plurality of function keys, such as a Menu key, a Cancel (Delete) key, a Confirmation key, a Talk key, an End key, an Internet connection key, Navigation keys (or direction keys), a character input key, etc., to provide key input data that corresponds to a key pressed by a user to controller  100 . In a handwriting mode, however, functions of keys of keypad  110  are disabled under control of controller  100 . Instead, keypad  110  performs an operation of applying pressure to glider sensor  108 . Or, in a handwriting mode, a function of inputting handwritten data by a stylus pen or a hand through a touch screen or a touch screen may be activated. In this case, it is not necessary to disable function of keypad  110 .  
      Glide sensor  108  is a pressure sensor. Glide sensor  108  is mounted under keypad  110  to sense pressure generated when a user presses keypad  110 . Glide sensor  108  can provide handwritten data to controller  100  by recognizing a pressed position of keypad  110 .  
      Display unit  112  displays status information generated during operations, numerals and characters, moving pictures and still pictures, and so on. Display unit  112  may be a color liquid crystal display (LCD). In addition, display unit  112  displays text or image input through glide sensor  108 .  
      CODEC  114  is connected to controller  100 , and microphone  116  and speaker  118  are connected to CODEC  114 . CODEC  114 , microphone  116 , and speaker  118  serve as an audio input/output block for telephone conversation and voice recording. CODEC  114  converts Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) data received from controller  100  into analog audio signal to output the analog audio signal to speaker  118 , and converts audio signal received through microphone  116  into PCM data to provide the PCM data to controller  100 .  
      RF module  122  down-converts an RF signal received through antenna  120  to provide the down-converted signal to the baseband processor  124 , and up-converts a baseband signal from baseband processor  124  to transmit the up-converted signal through antenna  120 . Baseband processor  124  processes a baseband signal transmitted/received between RF module  122  and controller  100 . For example, during a transmission operation, baseband processor  124  channel-codes and spreads data to be transmitted. During a reception operation, baseband processor  124  despreads and channel-decodes a received data.  
       FIG. 2  shows a method for recognizing and transmitting handwritten data during a messenger conversation in a mobile communication terminal according to the present invention.  
      Controller  100  determines whether the mobile communication terminal is connected to a mobile messenger in step  201 .  
      In step  203 , controller  100  determines whether a current mode is a handwriting mode that allows a user to input text or image data using his or her hand. When the current mode is not the handwriting mode in step  203 , controller  100  performs another mode (e.g., a keypad mode) in step  221 .  
      When the handwriting mode is set in step  203 , controller  100  disables the function of the alphanumeric keys in step  205 . That is, although keys of keypad  110  are selected, controller  110  disables the key input functions to sense pressure generated when keypad  110  is pressed through glide sensor  108  mounted under keypad  110 , so that functions of the alphanumeric keys are not performed. However, if, in a handwriting mode, a function of inputting handwritten data by a stylus pen or a hand through a touch screen or a touch screen is activated, it is not necessary to disable the function of alphanumeric keys of keypad  110 .  
      In step  207 , controller  100  drives glide sensor  108  for sensing pressure to receive handwritten data. That is, glide sensor  108  can sense input of handwritten data by sensing generated pressure.  
      In step  209 , controller  100  determines whether handwritten data is input through glide sensor  108 . That is, controller  100  recognizes input of handwritten data by using glide sensor  108  to sense a position of pressure generated when keypad  110  is pressed by a user&#39;s hand or a pen. The handwritten data can be input in a state that image effects, such as line color, line thickness, diagrams, etc., are previously set.  
      As illustrated in  FIGS. 3A and 3B , input handwritten data can be edited using an image edit function including a color setting, a thickness setting, a delete menu, and so on. For example, when a user wants to transmit a route map of an appointed place to a participant during a mobile messenger conversation, he or she can draw the route map using the image edit function.  
      Referring to  FIG. 3A , when handwritten data is input through glide sensor  108 , controller  100  displays the handwritten data on an input window for the mobile messenger conversation in step  211 . The displayed handwritten data can be edited using the image edit function, such as a delete function, a zoom-in function, a zoom-out function, etc.  
      Controller  100  enables the function of alphanumeric keys in step  213  and determines whether a handwritten data transmission menu is selected in step  215 . That is, controller  100  determines whether the transmission menu for transmitting input handwritten data to a terminal of the conversation participant is selected.  
      When the handwritten data transmission menu is selected, controller  100  transmits the input handwritten data in step  217 . That is, controller  100  transmits handwritten data to which a specific code is added, so that the mobile communication terminal receiving the handwritten data can recognize the received data as the handwritten data. Also, the handwritten data can be simultaneously transmitted to several participants in the messenger conversation.  
      Referring to  FIG. 3B , controller  100  displays the handwritten data on the conversation window of the mobile messenger in step  219 . Thereafter, controller  100  terminates the process.  
      While the use of handwritten data has been described with respect to the mobile messenger conversation, handwritten data can also be applied to all additional services (e.g., message, scheduler, note pad, etc.), attributing to improvement of text input speed.  
      While a glide sensor needs to be mounted to input handwritten data, a glide sensor is not required for merely receiving and displaying handwritten data.  
      Another example of a method for transmitting handwritten data in a mobile communication terminal may include sensing an input of handwritten data when a handwriting mode is set and transmitting the input handwritten data to another mobile communication terminal which is already communicating with the mobile communication terminal. The method may further comprise the step of displaying the input handwritten data on a display unit just after the step of sensing the input of handwritten data. The handwritten data may be input by pressing a keypad. Also, the input handwritten data may be editable using an image edit function including an erase function, a zoom-in function, and a zoom-out function. The handwritten data are simultaneously transmitted to conversation participants if there are a plurality of conversation participants.  
      Another example of a mobile communication terminal for transmitting handwritten data in a mobile communication terminal may include a sensing means for sensing an input of handwritten data when a handwriting mode is set, and a controller for transmitting the input handwritten data to another mobile communication terminal which is already communicating with the mobile communication terminal. The sensing means may be the touch screen or the touch pad. The controller may further perform displaying the input handwritten data on a display unit just after sensing the input of handwritten data. Also, the input handwritten data may be editable using an image edit function including an erase function, a zoom-in function, and a zoom-out function.  
      Alternate embodiments of the present invention can also include computer readable codes on a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium includes any data storage device that can store data that can be read by a computer system. Examples of a computer readable medium include magnetic storage media (such as ROM, floppy disks, and hard disks, among others), optical recording media (such as CD-ROMs or DVDs), and storage mechanisms such as carrier waves (such as transmission through the Internet). The computer readable medium can also be distributed over network coupled computer systems so that the computer readable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion. Also, functional programs, codes, and code segments for accomplishing the present invention can be construed by programmers of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains.  
      As described above, a mobile communication terminal according to the present invention can recognize and transmit handwritten data, for example text or image data, thus making it possible to express a user&#39;s personality. In addition, an image edit function can make it possible to easily transfer information that is difficult to express through simple texts. Furthermore, text input speed can be increased through use of handwriting rather than a keypad. Moreover, mobile communication terminals can receive handwritten text or image data without a specific apparatus.  
      While the present 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 present invention as defined by the appended claims.