HK1139535A - Improved method and apparatus for switching between different modes in a mobile communication terminal - Google Patents

Description

Improved method and apparatus for switching between different modes in a mobile communication terminal

Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to mobile terminals and, more particularly, to user interfaces for mobile terminals.

Background

Mobile terminals or mobile (cellular) telephones for mobile telecommunication systems like GSM, UMTS, D-AMPS and CDMA2000 have now been in use for many years. Mobile terminals have been used almost exclusively for voice communication with other mobile terminals or fixed telephones on the past day. Recently, the use of modern terminals has expanded to include not only voice communications, 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, electronic games, calendar/organizer/time planner, word processing, and so forth. With this large number of applications, user interaction naturally becomes complex and somewhat difficult.

One attempt to simplify for the user in the prior art is to use a two-dimensional menu that allows the user to view a large number of selectable applications simultaneously. Furthermore, switching from one application to the next (even for the most common applications) is still a process that requires the user to be relatively focused.

Therefore, there is a need to provide a mobile communication terminal and method that provides a user interface with a simpler and intuitive selection of the most common applications.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to solve or at least reduce the above problems.

Generally, the above object is achieved by the enclosed independent patent claims.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there has been provided a method for providing a user interface of a portable electronic device, the method comprising: detecting actuation of a mode switch actuator associated with switching an operating mode of the device; determining a switching direction by determining whether the stimulus is associated with a first switching direction or a second switching direction; determining a current operating mode; determining a new operation mode taking into account the switching direction and the current operation mode; and switching the operating mode of the portable electronic device from the current operating mode to the new operating mode. Thus, a method of easily changing the operation mode of the portable electronic device is provided to a user. This is a much simpler and faster user operation than finding an application in a menu system.

The determining a new operating mode may include: when it is determined that the switching direction is the first direction, determining the new operating mode as a next operating mode in a predefined circular list of operating modes after a currently active operating mode; and when it is determined that the switching direction is the second direction, determining the new operating mode as a last operating mode following a currently active operating mode in a predefined circular list of operating modes. The circular list simplifies the use of methods with varying numbers of operating modes.

The current operating mode may be associated with a first primary user application and the new operating mode may be associated with a second primary user application.

The switching the mode of operation may comprise presenting a user indication. The user indication emphasizes the switching of the operation mode for the user.

The user indication may comprise at least one user indication selected from the group consisting of: tactile indication, audible indication, and visual indication on a display of the device.

The switching the operation mode may include: presenting an intermediate animation (animation) on the display before displaying the screen for the new mode of operation. Animation is effective in showing the user what is happening and what can be viewed pleasantly.

The switching the operation mode may include: presenting an animation on the display, the animation including sliding sideways into a screen for the new mode of operation.

The predefined circular list of operating modes may include three operating modes.

The three modes of operation may be a phone mode, a media player mode, and a radio mode.

The switching the operation mode may include: switching a backlight for a key of the portable electronic device from a first configuration to a second configuration.

A second aspect of the invention is a portable electronic device having at least two modes of operation, comprising: a mode switching actuator and a controller, wherein: the controller is configured to detect an actuation of a user input associated with switching an operating mode of the apparatus and to determine a switching direction associated with the user input; the controller is configured to determine that a current operating mode is a currently active operating mode; the controller is configured to determine a new operating mode taking into account the switching direction; and the controller is configured to switch the operating mode of the portable electronic device from the current operating mode to the new operating mode in response to detecting actuation of the mode switch actuator.

The portable electronic device may be a mobile communication terminal.

The mode switching actuator may be a slide key capable of assuming a first directional position, an intermediate position, and a second directional position, and the slide key may be biased toward the intermediate position.

The first directional position may be associated with a first switching direction and the second directional position is associated with a second switching direction.

A third aspect of the invention is a portable electronic device having at least two modes of operation, comprising: a mode switching actuator; a controller; means for detecting actuation of the mode switching actuator; means for determining that the current operating mode is a currently active operating mode; means for determining a new operating mode; and means for switching the operating mode of the portable electronic device from the current operating mode to the new operating mode.

The portable electronic device may be a mobile communication terminal.

A fourth aspect of the invention is a computer program product comprising software instructions which, when executed in a portable electronic device, performs the method according to the first aspect.

A fifth aspect of the present invention is a user interface for a portable electronic device having at least two modes of operation, the user interface comprising: a mode switch actuator, wherein the user interface is configured to detect actuation of a user input associated with switching an operating mode of the apparatus and to determine a switching direction associated with the user input; the user interface is configured to determine that a current operating mode is a currently active operating mode; the user interface is configured to determine a new mode of operation taking into account the switching direction; and the user interface is configured to switch the operating mode of the portable electronic device from the current operating mode to the new operating mode in response to detecting actuation of the mode switch actuator.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed disclosure, from the appended dependent claims and from the accompanying drawings.

In general, all terms used in the claims should 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 herein. The steps of any method disclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless explicitly stated.

Drawings

Embodiments of the invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a cellular telecommunications system as an example of an environment in which the present invention may be applied;

FIG. 2 is a schematic front view illustrating a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram illustrating the internal component, software and protocol structure of the mobile terminal shown in FIG. 2;

fig. 4 is a schematic diagram showing how the operation mode can be switched in the mobile terminal of fig. 2; and

fig. 5 is a flow chart illustrating the process shown in fig. 4.

Detailed Description

The present invention now will 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.

Fig. 1 illustrates an example of a cellular telecommunication system in which the present invention may be applied. In the telecommunications 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 implemented 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 should be noted that for different embodiments of the mobile terminal 100 and in different situations, different ones of the telecommunications services referenced above may or may not be available; the invention is not limited to any particular set of services in this respect.

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 conform to any commercially available mobile telecommunications standard, such as GSM, UMTS, D-AMPS, CDMA2000, FOMA or TD-SCDMA.

The mobile telecommunications network 110 is operatively connectable to a wide area network 120, which may be the internet or a portion thereof. An internet server 122 has 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 providing www/wap content services to the mobile terminal 100.

A Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)130 is connected to the mobile telecommunications network 110 in a familiar manner. Various telephone terminals, including a stationary telephone 132, are connected to the PSTN 130.

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 may be any type of link with a limited range, such as a 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, and the like. The local devices 103 may be, for example, various sensors capable of communicating measurements to the mobile terminal 100 over the local link 101.

An embodiment 200 of the mobile terminal 100 is illustrated in more detail in fig. 2. The mobile terminal 200 comprises a speaker or earphone 202, a microphone 205, a display 203 and a set of keys 204, which may comprise a keypad 204a of the common ITU-T type (alphanumeric keypads representing the characters "0" - "9", "", and "#"), and certain other keys such as soft keys 204b, 204c, a send key 204d and an end key 204 e. Further, a directional input 211 is provided, such as a joystick (joypad) with a center button 211a, a joystick or other type of navigation input device. In this embodiment, the center button 211a (at least when it is applicable to the currently running application) functions to play or pause media.

A mode switch actuator 212 is also provided. The actuator is used to switch the operation mode of the mobile terminal. In this embodiment, the actuator is located in a neutral position by default. When the user wants to switch modes, the actuator is moved to the left or right position and released, after which the actuator is returned to the default neutral position by mechanical means, such as a spring. The mode switch actuator 212 may also be implemented by any type of input device capable of detecting at least two directional inputs, such as a double spring-loaded key, a touch pad, a rocker switch, any other type of bi-directional rotation device, and the like.

The backlight is arranged by all keys 204, directional input 211 and by the mode switch actuator 212.

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, and the controller 300 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, hard drive, 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 of 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, and various applications. The applications can include a media player application 350, an FM radio application 360, and 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, and so forth.

The MMI 334 also includes one or more hardware controllers that cooperate with the MMI drivers with the display 336/203, keypad 338/204, and various other I/O devices such as mode switch key 212, microphone 205, speaker 202, vibrator, ring tone generator, LED indicator, backlight, etc. As is generally known, a user can operate the mobile terminal through the man-machine interface thus formed.

The software also includes various modules, protocol stacks, drivers, etc., which are generally designated 330 and which provide communication services (such as transport, network and connectivity) for an RF interface 306 for local connectivity, and optionally a bluetooth interface 308 and/or an IrDA interface 310 or other appropriate interfaces. The RF interface 306 includes an internal or external antenna and 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 those skilled in the art, the radio circuitry comprises a series of analog and digital electronic components which together form a radio receiver and transmitter. These components include, for example, band pass filters, amplifiers, mixers, local oscillators, low pass filters, AD/DA converters, and the like.

The mobile terminal also has a SIM card 304 and an associated reader. As is generally known, the SIM card 304 includes a processor and local work and data memory.

Fig. 4 shows how the operating mode may be switched in an embodiment of the invention. A mobile terminal 400, such as the mobile terminal 200 of fig. 2, includes a display 403, such as the display 203 of fig. 2, a joystick plate 411, such as the joystick plate 211 of fig. 2, and a mode switch key 412, such as the mode switch actuator 212 of fig. 2, to allow a user to switch operating modes.

The operation mode is a mode in which the mobile terminal 400 behaves in a specific manner. For example, fig. 4 shows three modes of operation: phone mode 440, media player mode 441, and radio mode 442. Each mode of operation allows the mobile terminal to focus on the primary user application or functionality of that mode, allowing predictable use. Each mode of operation may change the behavior of the keypad, menu structure, idle screen, etc.

When the mobile terminal 400 is in the phone mode 440, the mobile terminal behaves as would be expected by a user of a conventional mobile terminal. In other words, the menu system and/or shortcut keys allow the user to command the mobile terminal to perform desired functions, such as voice telephony, www/wap browsing, video telephony, electronic messaging (e.g., SMS, MMS, email, instant messaging), digital image or video recording, electronic gaming, calendaring/managers/time planners, word processing, etc.

When the mobile terminal 400 is in the media player play 441, the mobile terminal's primary purpose is to play media to the user. For example, a media player may 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 may also be used to play video files according to standards such as MPEG-2, MPEG-4, or H.264.

Finally, when the mobile terminal 400 is in the radio mode 442, the mobile terminal's primary purpose is to allow the user to listen to FM radio. Optionally, favorite radio stations may be stored and text data by way of a Radio Data System (RDS) may be presented on display 403.

When the user switches the operating modes to the right or to the left with mode switch actuator 412, the modes are switched sequentially as indicated by right-hand arrows 413a-c and left-hand arrows 414 a-c. In the illustrated embodiment, there is a circular list of operational modes consisting of phone mode 440, media player mode 441, and radio mode 442 in that order. Thus, when the mobile terminal 400 is in the phone mode 440 and the user actuates the mode switch actuator 412 to the right, the mobile terminal switches to the media player mode 441. On the other hand, if the user actuates the mode switch actuator 412 to the left while in the phone mode 440, the phone switches to the radio mode 442. Similarly, when the mobile terminal 400 is in the media player mode 441, the mobile terminal 400 switches to the radio mode 442 if the user actuates the mode switch actuator 412 to the right, or the mobile terminal 400 switches to the phone mode 440 if the user actuates the mode switch actuator 412 to the left. Further, when the mobile terminal 400 is in the radio mode 442, the mobile terminal 400 switches to the phone mode 440 if the user actuates the mode switch actuator 412 to the right, or the mobile terminal 400 switches to the media player mode 441 if the user actuates the mode switch actuator 412 to the left.

In the present embodiment, the initial states of different operation modes when switching to these different operation modes in the present embodiment will now be described.

When the mobile terminal switches the operation mode to the phone mode 440, the state of the phone mode 440 is the same as the state when it last exited. For example, if the user is writing a text message when the phone mode 440 is last exited, the same text message entry screen is displayed when the phone mode 440 becomes active again.

When the mobile terminal switches to the media player mode 441, a screen displaying the currently played media is displayed regardless of the state when the media player 441 is last exited.

When the mobile terminal switches to radio mode 442, the main radio screen is always displayed initially, regardless of the state the radio application was in at the last time it was active. In this embodiment the user has to start radio play in the application, at which point the user is notified if no antenna is connected. In other words, the radio does not generate any sound until the user has pressed "play", for example by pressing the central dashboard button 211 a. If the media player is active playing audio before switching to the radio application, the audio remains playing until the radio actually begins playing and generating sound.

Fig. 5 is a flow chart illustrating the process shown in fig. 4.

In a detect user input for switching step 580, it is detected that a user has actuated a user input associated with switching the mode of operation.

In a determine switch direction step 582, it is determined which direction the user input is associated with. The direction may be right, left or even up or down.

In the determine current operating mode step 584, it is determined what operating mode the mobile terminal is currently in.

In step 586, which determines the next mode of operation, the current mode of operation and the direction associated with the user input are used to determine the next mode of operation to switch to. A more specific example of this step is described with reference to fig. 4 above.

In a switch operation mode step 588, the operation mode of the mobile terminal is switched to the previously determined next operation mode.

When switching from one mode to the next, various animations are possible. A variety of optional animations will now be presented.

-sliding in the screen for the new operation mode on the current screen, optionally from the direction indicated by the user input.

The screen for the new operation mode soon replaces the current screen, after which the information screen indicating the new operation mode slides in and out. The information screen may contain text and/or graphics indicating the new mode of operation.

An information screen indicating a new operating mode quickly replaces the current screen. A translucent or solid color bar is slid across the information screen after which a new mode of operation is displayed.

An information screen indicating a new operating mode quickly replaces the current screen. However, in this animation, the information screen is translucent so that the new operation mode can be seen behind the information screen. The translucent or solid colored band slides across the information screen, after which the information screen is removed and the new mode of operation becomes fully visible.

-displaying a 3D animation indicating a movement from the first operation mode to the second operation mode. For example, the animation may display a rotation of the tiles for different operating modes, where each tile includes text and/or graphics indicating the operating mode associated therewith.

The screen for the new mode of operation soon replaces the current screen, after which text and/or graphic items slide in and out of the screen.

In addition, other user indications may be given when an actual mode change occurs. For example, the vibrator may vibrate when the mode changes, where the vibration is either always the same for all modes, or each mode has a particular vibration associated with that mode. In addition, a sound effect or speech synthesizer announcing the new mode may be played to the user.

It should be noted that when switching modes, a certain suitable handling of the inactive mode may still be achieved. For example, the radio enables the user to listen to an FM radio station while the mobile terminal is in phone mode, or the phone application may temporarily interrupt the current process if an incoming call is detected.

In order to allow the user to easily determine the mode currently used, the elements of the user interface are specific to each mode. There are many distinctive user interface elements that can be varied to allow the user to see what mode is currently active, for example, the light through the dashboard 211 can be turned on or off or color changed as appropriate, the background on the display 403 can have a different color or appearance, or the overall scheme of the user interface with color and font can be changed.

An embodiment will now be described to illustrate an example of using light through an input element of a mobile terminal to indicate different states.

When the mobile terminal is in phone mode 440 and the user interface is active, there is light through each key (such as soft keys 204b-c, send key 204d, end key 204e, and keypad 204 a). Further, there is a ring of light around the joypad 211 and a backlight for the mode switch actuator 212.

When the mobile terminal is in phone mode 440 and the user interface is inactive (due to a certain period of user inactivity), all of the backlights are turned off. This reduces power consumption when the user is inactive.

When the mobile terminal is in the media player mode 441 or the radio mode 442 and the user interface is active, there is light through each key, such as soft keys 204b-c, send key 204d, end key 204e, and keypad 204 a. Further, just as in the active phone mode 440, there is a ring of light around the dashboard 211 and a backlight for the mode switch actuator 212. However, here also the central button 211a of the joypad is illuminated, whereby the user can see the symbol for play/pause (if not, the symbol is partly or completely invisible).

When the mobile terminal is in the media player mode 441 or the radio mode 442 and the user interface is inactive (due to a certain period of user inactivity), all backlights are turned off. However, the central button 211a of the joypad is periodically illuminated with light pulses. This reduces power consumption when the user is inactive, while still indicating to the user the very usual play/pause functionality of the center button 211a of the dashboard.

Although embodiments of the present invention are described above as embodied in a mobile terminal, the present invention may be implemented in any type of portable electronic device.

It should be noted that the number and function of the above described modes of operation are only examples and that the scope of the present invention encompasses any number of modes of operation having any type of functionality. In one embodiment, the user may configure what primary user application is associated with each mode of operation and reorder the modes of operation as appropriate. In one embodiment, a particular mode of operation may be associated with a particular application selected by an operator (e.g., an application specifically developed or customized for the operator to increase operator visibility in the mobile terminal). Optionally, one of the operating modes, such as phone mode 440, may be fixed, thereby preventing the user from changing the functionality of that mode.

The invention has mainly been described with reference to a number of 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.

Claims (18)

1. A method for providing a user interface of a portable electronic device, the method comprising:

detecting actuation of a mode switch actuator associated with switching an operating mode of the device;

determining a switching direction by determining whether the stimulus is associated with a first switching direction or a second switching direction;

determining a current operating mode;

determining a new operation mode taking into account the switching direction and the current operation mode; and

switching an operating mode of the portable electronic device from the current operating mode to the new operating mode.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining a new operating mode comprises:

when it is determined that the switching direction is the first direction, determining the new operating mode as a next operating mode in a predefined circular list of operating modes after the currently active operating mode; and

when it is determined that the switching direction is the second direction, determining the new operating mode as a last operating mode in a predefined circular list of operating modes following the currently active operating mode.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the current operating mode is associated with a first primary user application and the new operating mode is associated with a second primary user application.

4. A method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said switching operation mode comprises presenting a user indication.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the user indication comprises at least one user indication selected from the group consisting of: tactile indication, audible indication, and visual indication on a display of the device.

6. The method of claim 4 or 5, wherein the switching the operating mode comprises: presenting an intermediate animation on the display prior to displaying the screen for the new mode of operation.

7. The method of claim 4 or 5, wherein the switching the operating mode comprises: presenting an animation on the display, the animation comprising: the screen for the new mode of operation is slid in from the side.

8. The method of claim 2, wherein the predefined circular list of operating modes comprises three operating modes.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the three operating modes are a phone mode, a media player mode, and a radio mode.

10. The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the switching the operation mode comprises: switching a backlight for a key of the portable electronic device from a first configuration to a second configuration.

11. A portable electronic device having at least two modes of operation, comprising: a mode switching actuator and a controller, wherein:

the controller is configured to detect an actuation of a user input associated with switching an operating mode of the apparatus and to determine a switching direction associated with the user input;

the controller is configured to determine that a current operating mode is a currently active operating mode;

the controller is configured to determine a new operating mode taking into account the switching direction; and is

The controller is configured to switch the operating mode of the portable electronic device from the current operating mode to the new operating mode in response to detecting actuation of the mode switch actuator.

12. The portable electronic device according to claim 11 or 12, wherein the portable electronic device is a mobile communication terminal.

13. The portable electronic device of claim 11, wherein:

the mode switch actuator is a slide key capable of assuming a first directional position, an intermediate position and a second directional position, and

the sliding key is biased toward the intermediate position.

14. The portable electronic device of claim 13, wherein the first directional position is associated with a first switching direction and the second directional position is associated with a second switching direction.

15. A portable electronic device having at least two modes of operation, comprising:

a mode switching actuator;

a controller;

means for detecting actuation of the mode switching actuator;

means for determining that the current operating mode is a currently active operating mode;

means for determining a new operating mode; and

means for switching an operating mode of the portable electronic device from the current operating mode to the new operating mode.

16. The portable electronic device of claim 15, wherein the portable electronic device is a mobile communication terminal.

17. A computer program product comprising software instructions which, when executed in a portable electronic device, implements a method according to any one of claims 1 to 10.

18. A user interface for a portable electronic device having at least two modes of operation, the user interface comprising:

a mode switching actuator, wherein:

the user interface is configured to detect an actuation of a user input associated with switching an operating mode of the apparatus and to determine a switching direction associated with the user input;

the user interface is configured to determine that a current operating mode is a currently active operating mode;

the user interface is configured to determine a new mode of operation taking into account the switching direction; and is

The user interface is configured to switch the operating mode of the portable electronic device from the current operating mode to the new operating mode in response to detecting actuation of the mode switch actuator.