A portable intelligent communications device is provided which includes a cellular telephone and a computer-controlled touch screen display. The touch screen display is a high-resolution graphics display which acts as a graphical user interface. Since the touch screen display is smaller in size than a standard laptop computer's display, the information boxes and menu selections are re-sized so as to fit on the smaller screen, however, each of the choices is made large enough in surface area so that a human finger can tactilely operate the touch screen display without the need of a more precise pointing device. Instead of using pull-down menus or drop down lists, the graphical user interface provides a selection list based upon virtual control buttons and virtual "image buttons" in which each image button is labeled to describe the option that can be selected by pressing that button. In situations where touching a control button opens a second level of the menu, this second level of menu choices (or "image buttons") is either docked adjacent to the display's work area, or is launched as a floating window on top of the work area. The user also may reconfigure the control buttons which are provided as a tabbed panel for easy actuation on the touch screen display. Rather than providing a fixed pull-down menu set of choices, the display shows a series of file folders having tabs that are displayed at different horizontal locations on the screen. The user can drag and drop the tabs (i.e., the control buttons) so that these controls can be re-ordered. In addition, the user may wish to change the entire grouping and move a control button from an old control panel to a completely new panel. When this occurs, the new panel is automatically created. Furthermore, the user can drag a control button from one control panel area of the screen and drop the control button into the "tab area" of the control panel at a location where no tab previously existed. When that occurs, a new tab is automatically created having the same name as the original control button.
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1. In a computer system having a memory circuit, a processing circuit, and a touch-screen display, a method of providing a graphical user interface that supports finger navigation, said method comprising the steps of: displaying, under the control of said processing circuit, a plurality of virtual control buttons on said touch-screen display, said virtual control buttons being arranged on said display prior to selection in a manner such that each of said virtual control buttons is sufficiently spaced-apart from an adjacent of said virtual control buttons and is sufficiently large in surface area to allow actuation by a human finger without any one of said adjacent of said virtual control buttons being simultaneously actuated, wherein a portion of said plurality of virtual control buttons are arranged on said touch-screen display as a set of tab panel buttons that, when actuated, bring up a dialog.
11. A computer system, comprising:
(a) a memory circuit for storage of data; (b) a touch-screen display which acts as a graphical user interface that supports finger navigation; and (c) a processing circuit tat is configured to control the flow of data between said memory circuit and said touch-screen display, and to control the appearance of information upon said touch-screen display by displaying a plurality of virtual control buttons on said touch-screen display, said virtual control buttons being arranged prior to selection on said display in a manner such that each of said virtual control buttons is sufficiently spaced-apart from an adjacent of said virtual control buttons and is sufficiently large in surface area to allow actuation by a human finger without any one of said adjacent of said virtual control buttons being simultaneously actuated, wherein a portion of said plurality of virtual control buttons are arranged on said touch-screen display as a set of tab panel buttons that, when actuated, bring up a dialog.
21. A communications terminal, comprising:
(a) a telephony circuit; (b) a memory circuit for storage of data; (c) a touch-screen display which acts as a graphical user interface that supports finger navigation; and (d) a processing circuit that is configured to control the flow of data between said telephony circuit, said memory circuit, and said touch-screen display, and to control the appearance of information upon said touch-screen display by displaying a plurality of virtual control buttons on said touch-screen display, said virtual control buttons being arranged prior to selection on said display in a manner such that each of said virtual control button is sufficiently spaced-apart from an adjacent of said virtual control buttons and is sufficiently large in surface area to allow actuation by a human finger without any one of said adjacent of said virtual control buttons being simultaneously actuated, wherein a portion of said plurality of virtual control buttons are arranged on said touch-screen display as a set of tab panel buttons that, when actuated, bring up a dialog.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to mobile communications equipment and is particularly directed to a cellular telephone of the type which includes a computer-controlled graphics display. The invention is specifically disclosed as a portable intelligent communications device that has a touch screen display in which the graphics user interface displays choices as "tabs" or "image buttons" that are physically large enough to be actuated by a human finger.
2. Description of Related Art
Various types of portable laptop computers have been available for many years, and their flat panel displays typically run in a Windows™ environment as the graphics user interface. Windows-compatible computer programs that execute on laptop computers typically use pull-down menus so the user can select from various choices to operate the executing program, and many times choices will be presented to the user using a drop down list in which the user can type in certain information, such as operating parameters or filenames. In using these pull-down menus or drop down lists, the user of a laptop computer must typically have a pointing device, such as a mouse or a controlled cursor that moves across the screen. Most drop down lists will present an expanded list of choices if the user clicks the pointing device on a down arrow within the vertical scroll bar of a smaller window, in which the choices will be presented.
In a complex computer system, displaying all of the menu choices and control panels selections of interest to the user at one time may require an inordinate amount of display real estate, especially for portable computers with limited display sizes, such as in laptop computers. For portable computers having case sizes even smaller than laptop computers, the relatively small size of the associated graphics display will require some changes to the "normal" method of displaying menus and control panels, which may tend to make such displays even smaller and more concentrated.
Portable telephones, particularly cellular telephones, have also been available for years. Most such equipment is computer controlled, in which the cellular phone includes a microprocessor or other processing control unit, along with sufficient random access memory to store some of the parameters that can be selected by the phone's user. Some telephones include a relatively small liquid crystal display which can show various types of information, including the telephone number being dialed, and/or the telephone number of a call being received. Such displays are typically limited to alphanumeric characters, and do not lend themselves well to displaying graphical data or images.
It would be desirable to provide a portable telephone with a high-resolution graphics display in order to make better use of the processing power that is available when including a microprocessor within the portable telephone. Such a device could be configured to run computer programs that are comparable to Windows-type software in the form of word processors, spreadsheets, and other communications software such as a web browser.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a portable intelligent communications device that has the capability of acting as a cellular telephone and as a laptop computer.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a portable intelligent communications device that includes a cellular telephone and a high-resolution graphics display screen that is touch sensitive, and so can be used without a pointing device such as a mouse.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a portable intelligent communications device that acts as a cellular telephone and includes a touch screen display in which the target areas for selection by a user are increased to a size sufficient that a person's finger can be used to make the selections.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a portable intelligent communications device that includes a cellular telephone and a touch screen display, in which a menu system that supports finger based navigation is provided, and a graphical user interface is provided that consists of virtual tabs and image buttons that can be selected by a human finger.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a portable intelligent communications device that includes a cellular telephone and a touch screen display which is capable of moving and automatically naming tabbed control panels based upon control names.
Additional objects, advantages and other novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description that follows and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned with the practice of the invention.
To achieve the foregoing and other objects, and in accordance with one aspect of the present invention, an improved portable intelligent communications device is provided which includes a portable or cellular telephone and a computer-controlled touch screen display. The touch screen display is a high-resolution graphics display, and while it is smaller in size than a standard laptop computer display, the touch screen display of the present invention acts as a graphical user interface in which various executable computer programs can be accessed and executed on the portable intelligent communications device. A microprocessor controls the graphics display, and also controls a modem that communicates with the transmitter/receiver portion of the cellular telephone. Under control of the microprocessor, the portable intelligent communications device can communicate over the Internet by use of a web browser program resident in the portable intelligent communications device.
Since the touch screen graphics display is smaller in size than a standard laptop computer's display, the information boxes and menu selections are re-sized so as to fit on the smaller screen, but at the same time, each of the choices is made large enough in surface area so that a human finger can tactilely operate the touch screen display without the need of a more precise pointing device (such as a mouse). Instead of using pull-down menus or drop down lists (as in most Windows-type interfaces), the graphical user interface of the present invention provides a selection list based upon virtual "image buttons" in which each image button is labeled to describe the option that can be selected by pressing that button. Each button has a sufficiently large target area that can be easily pressed using a human finger, which not only makes it easier to use finger-based navigation, but also provides the user with a visual cue.
The menu system of the present invention is actuated by the use of virtual tabs (or control buttons) and virtual image buttons, which have been appropriately sized to support finger touches on the touch screen display. In situations where touching a tab or control button opens a second level of the menu (often called a "dialog"), this second level of menu choices is either docked adjacent to the display's work area, or is launched as a floating window on top of the work area. This is quite different from prior menu applications that use Windows™, which typically cascade their second level of menu choices with the control button at the top of the opened window.
Another aspect of the present invention allows the user to reconfigure the control buttons which are provided as a tabbed panel for easy actuation on the touch screen display. Rather than providing a fixed pull-down menu set of choices, the display shows a series of file folders having tabs that are displayed at different horizontal locations on the screen. The user of the portable intelligent communications device can drag and drop the tabs (i.e., the control buttons) so that these controls can be re-ordered. In addition, the user may wish to change the entire grouping and move a control button from an old control panel to a completely new panel. When this occurs, the new panel is automatically created. Furthermore, the user can drag a control button from one control panel area of the screen and drop the control button into the "tab area" of the control panel at a location where no tab previously existed. When that occurs, a new tab is automatically created having the same name as the original control button.
Still other objects of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in this art from the following description and drawings wherein there is described and shown a preferred embodiment of this invention in one of the best modes contemplated for carrying out the invention. As will be realized, the invention is capable of other different embodiments, and its several details are capable of modification in various, obvious aspects all without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and descriptions will be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive.
The accompanying drawings incorporated in and forming a part of the specification illustrate several aspects of the present invention, and together with the description and claims serve to explain the principles of the invention. In the drawings:
Reference will now be made in detail to the present preferred embodiment of the invention, an example of which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like numerals indicate the same elements throughout the views.
Referring now to the drawings,
In
Microprocessor 40 communicates with a set of input/output buffers 54, which may be separate hardware components, or may be part of the main system RAM 44. The I/O buffers 54 are connected to a modem 56, which in turn is connected to the handset 20. Modem 56 is also optionally connected to a land line connection (e.g., via land line jack 60), which would enable the portable intelligent communications device 10 to directly be plugged into a telephone line via a wall jack. Modem 56 is also connected via a matrix switch (not shown) to a radio frequency transmitter/receiver unit 62, which in turn is connected to antenna 64. An exemplary portable intelligent communications device is disclosed in a co-pending patent application entitled, "Switching of Analog Signals in Mobile Computing Devices," and having the Ser. No. 08/796,119, which is owned by the assignee of the present invention, and hereby is incorporated by reference herein.
As will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art, portable intelligent communications device 10 can be configured to act as a very powerful and versatile piece of communications equipment, and with the proper software, also can act as a portable computer having a flat-panel display. With sufficient RAM and a mediumsize hard disk drive, the portable intelligent communications device 10 could act as a Windows-based personal computer platform, and could run the standard Windows-based computer programs, such as Microsoft Word™. However, since the graphic display 30 is physically smaller than most monitor screens that are provided with personal computers or laptop computers, the standard Windows-based computer programs and graphical user interface systems may not be easily used without some modifications.
In the present invention, the menu choices for the graphical user interface are provided with a windowing-type environment, which can be achieved through a docking of dialogs, information boxes and keyboard symbols. This will drastically reduce clutter and confusion for the user when using the portable intelligent communications device's windowing environment. For example,
The main control panel is depicted at reference numeral 110, as a tab area having a series of virtual tabbed selections, such as "File" at 112, "Format" at 114, and "Setup" at 116, as some of the choices. Options displayed in this manner will be referred to hereinbelow as "tab control panels," or as a "tab menu area."
After one of the virtual tabs has been selected by the user, a second level of menu choices, known as "dialogs" will now appear on the display, as seen at reference numeral 120. As used herein, the term "dialog" does not necessarily refer to a pop-up display, but could instead be docked somewhere else within existing windows. In the example display of
A "work area" at reference numeral 130 is provided which, in the case of a word processor or text editor, would include the image of a document that is being created or edited. As in most word processing computer programs, the size of the "window" that shows the actual contents of the document being edited is much too small to display the entire document at one time. Consequently, there is a vertical scroll bar at 132, and a horizontal scroll bar at 134. These scroll bars operate in the same manner as the equivalent vertical and horizontal controls for a Windows-based word processing program. The bottom rectangular area at reference numeral 140 will preferably be used to display status information.
Another advantage of the portable intelligent communications device of the present invention is that its graphical user interface is designed to be operated by touch-navigation, meaning that the human finger can be placed directly on the menu item choice of interest, which will have an identical effect as if a mouse or other pointing device were used to make the menu selection choice. The shape and size of the control buttons and the tabs are such that a human finger can select the appropriate control button (or tab) without flowing over onto an adjacent control button. Since the relatively small size of the graphic display 30 will not allow as large a menu set of choices as a standard laptop computer's display, the graphical user interface of the present invention must be intelligently designed to provide the appropriate controls and options while still having these controls spaced appropriately for finger navigation. While finger navigation is the preferred mode of operation for portable intelligent communications device 10, a stylus or light pen 26 may optionally be provided so that a user may make selections on display 30 with somewhat greater accuracy, if desired.
Different events occur when making different choices of the control panel image buttons 120 on FIG. 3. For example, if the Exit button 128 is touched, then no further menu action occurs, and instead the application will exit. If the "Print" button 129 is contacted by the user's finger, then no further menu action will occur, however, the active document will be printed. Another possible event is where a dialog appears in a sub-menu area, as depicted on
Another type of action can occur, such as when the "Open" button 124 is selected, or when the "Save As" button 127 is selected. When the Save As button 127 is selected, a "floating window" will appear over the work area 130, which is docked in the work area itself. When this occurs, the graphical user interface will display a screen as depicted in FIG. 5. The floating window is depicted generally by the reference numeral 170, and it can be seen that several other submenu choices are provided within this floating window 170. A vertical scrolling bar is provided at 172, and file names that can be selected are depicted at 174. Other button-type commands or options are depicted at 176, and other small windows for entering text are also displayed at 178, which require data to be entered from a keyboard or like device. If an optional keyboard is attached to the portable intelligent communications device 10, then these boxes or windows can be entered directly from the keyboard. On the other hand, a dialog can be placed on the graphic display 30 which has the appearance and operates as a standard keyboard. This situation is depicted in
On
The keyboard application is displayed at 180, as noted above, and in addition, a depiction of the globe is now displayed in a smaller window-type box at 228.
The status bar 140 includes two information "meters" at the reference numeral 230. The left-hand meter at 232 informs the user that the telephone is off-hook and available for use. The right-hand meter at 234 is a signal strength meter, providing the user with an indication of the reliability of the incoming signal on the cellular telephone built into the portable intelligent communications device 10.
As can be seen in
The new finger-based navigation menu system of the present invention allows a user to simply use his own fingers to navigate the menu. The present invention's graphical user interface consists of tabs and image buttons that are sized appropriately to support finger touches. The dialogs (i.e., the second level of menu options) are docked either adjacent to the work area or launch a floating window on top of the work area, rather than the current Windows-type implementations in which the second level of menu is vertically cascaded with the top control button.
In the present invention, the dialog prompts the user for more information, and appears either in a sub-menu area outside the working area, or floats on top of the work area. In situations where the dialog appears as a sub-menu outside the work area (e.g., see
In
In
In appropriate circumstances, the dialog can also be shown in the keyboard area, an example of which is depicted on FIG. 9. In this case, a dialog 390 has replaced the keyboard 380 that was depicted on FIG. 8. The dialog 390 docks itself in place of the keyboard, and on
Spell checker 390 includes a small display area at reference numeral 392, which makes suggestions for the misspelled word located at 396. The corrected word is shown in a small display at 398, and the image buttons that control the spell checker's operations are depicted at reference numeral 394. Upon activating the "Cancel" button at 394, the Spell Check Dialog 390 will disappear, and will be replaced by the keyboard 380, as per FIG. 8.
On
If, however, the user drops the control onto an empty location along the level where tabs may be resident (i.e., along the tab menu area 360), then a new tab will be automatically created having the same name assigned as originally appeared as the label of this image button. An example of how this occurs is depicted in
On
On
The automatic naming of the tab for a new control panel is quite useful, since the user is not burdened with the task of entering a name for the new tab. While this naming task may not be a problem for a traditional personal computer, or for a laptop or notebook computer, it represents an improvement for devices having limited user input, particularly in situations where the variety keyboard entry symbols are very limited, and entering names will thereby become quite difficult.
A flow chart depicting the logical steps for dragging and dropping control image buttons is provided on FIG. 14. Starting at a function block 500, the user drags and drops a image button, according to the same method as related above and as depicted in
If the result at step 510 was NO, then a decision block 520 determines whether or not the drop location is onto an existing tab. If the answer is YES, then a function block 522 will remove the image button from the original panel and will add that image button to the new tab's panel. Once that occurs, a decision block 524 determines if the original panel has any remaining control image buttons. If the answer is YES, then this routine is finished, and returns at step 526. If the result at 524 is NO, then a function block 528 removes the original panel and its associated tab from the display.
If the result at decision block 520 was NO, then a decision block 530 determines if the drop location was in the tab menu area. If the answer is YES, then a function block 532 removes the image button from the original panel and adds it to a temporary panel. Then a new tab with the same name as the original control image button is created at a function block 534. The temporary panel is moved to the new tab location, and the tab and the control panel image button are now associated with one another, at a function block 536. After that has occurred, decision block 524 determines again whether or not the original panel has any remaining control image buttons.
If the result at decision block 530 was NO, then the drop placement was "illegal" and no operation will occur. This routine will then return at step 526.
It will be understood that various configurations or arrangements of tabs and image button controls other than illustrated herein can be implemented on a touch-sensitive display screen without departing from the principles of the present invention. Certainly, the control panel configuration could be arranged at locations other than along the top of the display, although it is preferred that the panel selections be placed in a substantially horizontal line so that the user's finger does not cover up some of the choices as the user is attempting to make a selection. The same is true with the tabs along the top of the display screen.
The foregoing description of a preferred embodiment of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Obvious modifications or variations are possible in light of the above teachings. The embodiment was chosen and described in order to best illustrate the principles of the invention and its practical application to thereby enable one of ordinary skill in the art to best utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claims appended hereto.
Jain, Vikas, Bankler, Brian, Moon, Billy G., Wooldridge, Tammy A.
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