U.S. patent application number 14/300525 was filed with the patent office on 2015-01-29 for user terminal and method for displaying integrated communication history of the user terminal.
The applicant listed for this patent is Pantech Co., Ltd.. Invention is credited to Joon-Seub LEE.
Application Number | 20150033143 14/300525 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 52391577 |
Filed Date | 2015-01-29 |
United States Patent
Application |
20150033143 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
LEE; Joon-Seub |
January 29, 2015 |
USER TERMINAL AND METHOD FOR DISPLAYING INTEGRATED COMMUNICATION
HISTORY OF THE USER TERMINAL
Abstract
A method for displaying an integrated communication history of a
user terminal includes transmitting or receiving a content using an
integrated communication service, collecting communication history
of content transmission or reception using the integrated
communication service, and generating a user interface feature
based on the communication history. A user terminal to display an
integrated communication history includes an integrated
communication provider to support an integrated communication
service, a communicator to transmit or receive content using the
integrated communication service, a communication history manager
to collect communication history of content transmission or
reception using the integrated communication service, an interface
manager to generate a user interface feature based on the
communication history, and an image display to display a user
interface comprising the user interface feature.
Inventors: |
LEE; Joon-Seub; (Incheon-si,
KR) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Pantech Co., Ltd. |
Seoul |
|
KR |
|
|
Family ID: |
52391577 |
Appl. No.: |
14/300525 |
Filed: |
June 10, 2014 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
715/752 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04L 51/36 20130101;
H04L 51/16 20130101; G06F 3/0482 20130101; G06F 3/04817
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
715/752 |
International
Class: |
H04L 12/58 20060101
H04L012/58; G06F 3/0481 20060101 G06F003/0481; G06F 3/0482 20060101
G06F003/0482 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jul 26, 2013 |
KR |
10-2013-0089111 |
Claims
1. A method for displaying an integrated communication history of a
user terminal, the method comprising: transmitting or receiving a
content using an integrated communication service; collecting
communication history of content transmission or reception using
the integrated communication service; and generating a user
interface feature based on the communication history.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: displaying the
communication history in association with the user interface
feature.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication history
comprises content information associated with the transmitted or
received content.
4. The method of claim 3, further comprising: classifying the
contents according to a content type based on the content
information.
5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining whether
an application is running in the user terminal, wherein the
application is an application associated with a Rich Communication
Suite (RCS).
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the collecting of the
communication history comprises: monitoring communication
activities of the user terminal in an integrated communication
environment; collecting content information when a communication
activity is detected; and generating the communication history
using at least one piece of content information.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein content information comprises at
least one of a file extension, a file name, a time of transmission
or reception, and sender or recipient information.
8. The method of claim 6, wherein the content information is
collected by analyzing header information of the content.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating a user interface
feature comprises: loading the communication history; and
displaying a user interface comprising a user interface set by an
application stored in the user terminal and the generated user
interface feature.
10. The method of claim 9, further comprising: selecting a
communication history for loading, wherein the communication
history to be loaded is selected based on at least one of a content
type, sender information, and information included in an address
book.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein the user interface feature
comprises at least one of an icon, a text book, a drop down menu, a
menu button for performing an operation, and a menu list.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein the user interface feature
indicates a type of the content transmitted or received by the user
terminal.
13. The method of claim 9, wherein the user interface is displayed
to hide locked content.
14. The method of claim 9, wherein the user interface is displayed
with respect to at least one of a content type, sender or recipient
information associated with the communication history, and a
contact stored in the user terminal.
15. The method of claim 1, wherein the integrated communication
service includes an RCS service.
16. A user terminal to display an integrated communication history,
the user terminal comprising: an integrated communication provider
to support an integrated communication service; a communicator to
transmit or receive content using the integrated communication
service; a communication history manager to collect communication
history of content transmission or reception using the integrated
communication service; an interface manager to generate a user
interface feature based on the communication history; and an image
display to display a user interface comprising the user interface
feature.
17. The user terminal of claim 16, wherein the image display
displays the communication history in association with the user
interface feature.
18. The user terminal of claim 16, wherein the communication
history manager monitors communication activities of the user
terminal in an integrated communication environment, collects
content information when a communication activity is detected, and
generates the communication history using at least one piece of
content information.
19. The user terminal of claim 16, wherein the interface manager
loads the communication history, and the image display displays a
user interface set by an application stored in the user terminal
and the generated user interface feature.
20. The user terminal of claim 16, wherein the user interface
feature indicates a type of the content transmitted or received by
the user terminal.
21. The user terminal of claim 16, wherein the integrated
communication service includes a Rich Communication Suite (RCS)
service.
22. A method for displaying an integrated communication history of
a user terminal, the method comprising: collecting content
transmission or reception history in an integrated communication
environment; and displaying a user interface comprising information
associated with the content transmission or reception history.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims priority from and the benefit under
35 U.S.C. .sctn.119(a) of Korean Patent Application No.
10-2013-0089111, filed on Jul. 26, 2013, the entire disclosure of
which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.
BACKGROUND
[0002] 1. Field
[0003] The following description relates to a user terminal, and
more particularly, to a user terminal capable of supporting
integrated communication and a method for displaying a
communication history of the user terminal.
[0004] 2. Discussion of the Background
[0005] With the development of information communication
technologies, types of user terminals have diversified. Especially,
diversification of mobile electronic devices, as portable
terminals, is noticeable. For example, portable electronic devices,
such as Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG)-1 or MPEG 2 Audio Layer
III (MP3) players, digital cameras, portable multimedia players
(PMP), navigation systems, portable game players, electronic
dictionaries, E-book readers, digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB)
receivers, and the like, have gained popularity. In addition,
mobile computers, such as smartphones, tablets, and smart pads,
have proliferated rapidly, so that the relevant industries are
growing fast.
[0006] Also, with the expanding distribution of Wi-Fi routers and
the commercialization of Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology,
which is one of high-speed mobile communication technologies, fast
transfer of large-scale data through a mobile device is feasible.
Transfer of various types of content among different mobile
terminals has accordingly increased, and a great variety of
communication services have been developed and available in support
of the content transfer. Conventionally, communication services for
the content transfer may be limited in supportable types of content
and/or communication protocols according to service providers
and/or service provision methods.
[0007] A next-generation integrated communication service, such as
a Rich Communication Suite (RCS) service, has been standardized,
led by Global System for Mobile Communication Association (GSMA),
and the commercialization of such service has been offered in some
countries, including Korea. The next-generation integrated
communication service, which may be referred to as integrated
communication or RCS, may integrate all capabilities of a user
terminal through an application installed in the user terminal,
which includes, for example, calls, short message service (SMS) or
multimedia messaging service (MMS), chat, file transfer, data
sharing. The integrated communication service also allows for
interworking with an RCS client or RCS service of another vendor.
Further, the integrated communication service enables the transfer
of multimedia, including voice, images, and text, based on user's
presence, and provides all-IP-based upgraded services in terms of
messaging and circuit switched (CS)-based voice domain.
[0008] The representative features of the integrated communication
services may include an Enriched Call that enables a user to share
multimedia, such as video or photo, during a call, an Enhanced
Messaging that provides any types of communication in a
conversational form, and an Enhanced Phonebook that allows
communication to be able to be initiated from a phonebook by
selecting a communication type, such as, one-to-one communication,
group chat, and file transfer. As described above, in some
countries, the up-to-date standardized integrated communication
services have been commercially available.
[0009] As the integrated communication services are becoming more
available, the amount of content to be transferred through the
integrated communication has increased as well as types of the
content. Once a conversation has ended, the transferred content may
not be needed any longer, yet, in some cases, the transferred
content and related information may be required later. The
proliferation of integrated communication services and the
resulting increase of the amount of content transferred may lead to
growing importance of management of the transferred content.
[0010] However, the presently used user terminals only allow a user
to directly access a folder that stores the transferred content,
run an application to execute the stored content, or check the
transferred content individually by searching the previous
communication that has been made through the integrated
communication service. That is, the current user terminal does not
offer a separate capability to manage content that is transmitted
or received during the integrated communication service.
[0011] The above information disclosed in this Background section
is only for enhancement of understanding of the background related
to the following disclosure and therefore it may contain
information that does not form any part of the prior art.
SUMMARY
[0012] Exemplary embodiments of the present invention provide a
user terminal capable of supporting integrated communication and a
method for displaying a communication history of the user
terminal.
[0013] Additional features of the invention will be set forth in
the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from
the description, or may be learned by practice of the
invention.
[0014] Exemplary embodiments of the present invention provide a
method for displaying an integrated communication history of a user
terminal including transmitting or receiving a content using an
integrated communication service; collecting communication history
of content transmission or reception using the integrated
communication service; and generating a user interface feature
based on the communication history.
[0015] Exemplary embodiments of the present invention provide a
user terminal to display an integrated communication history
including an integrated communication provider to support an
integrated communication service; a communicator to transmit or
receive content using the integrated communication service; a
communication history manager to collect communication history of
content transmission or reception using the integrated
communication service; an interface manager to generate a user
interface feature based on the communication history; and an image
display to display a user interface comprising the user interface
feature.
[0016] Exemplary embodiments of the present invention provide a
method for displaying an integrated communication history of a user
terminal including collecting content transmission or reception
history in an integrated communication environment; and displaying
a user interface comprising information associated with the content
transmission or reception history.
[0017] It is to be understood that both the foregoing general
description and the following detailed description are exemplary
and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of
the invention as claimed. Other features and aspects will be
apparent from the following detailed description, the drawings, and
the claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0018] The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a
further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and
constitute a part of this specification, illustrate exemplary
embodiments of the invention, and together with the description
serve to explain the principles of the invention.
[0019] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a user terminal
according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
[0020] FIG. 2 is a table listing file formats used in integrated
communication services introduced by Global System for Mobile
Communication Association (GSMA) according to an exemplary
embodiment of the present invention.
[0021] FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method for displaying a
communication history of a user terminal supporting integrated
communication service according to an exemplary embodiment of the
present invention.
[0022] FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating details of operation S11
of FIG. 3 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present
invention.
[0023] FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating details of operation S15
of FIG. 3 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present
invention.
[0024] FIG. 6A, FIG. 6B, FIG. 6C, FIG. 6D, FIG. 6E, and FIG. 6F are
diagrams illustrating a user interface that is capable of being
modified based on a communication history according to exemplary
embodiments of the present invention.
[0025] FIG. 7A, FIG. 7B, and FIG. 7C are diagrams illustrating a
method for displaying an integrated communication history when an
application, other than an RCS call application, is executed
according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention.
[0026] FIG. 8A, FIG. 8B, FIG. 8C, and FIG. 8D are diagrams
illustrating a method for displaying an integrated communication
history when an application, other than an RCS call application, is
executed according to exemplary embodiments of the present
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS
[0027] The invention is described more fully hereinafter with
reference to the accompanying drawings, in which 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 so that this disclosure is thorough, and will fully convey
the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. It will be
understood that for the purposes of this disclosure, "at least one
of X, Y, and Z" can be construed as X only, Y only, Z only, or any
combination of two or more items X, Y, and Z (e.g., XYZ, XZ, XYY,
YZ, ZZ). Throughout the drawings and the detailed description,
unless otherwise described, the same drawing reference numerals are
understood to refer to the same elements, features, and structures.
The relative size and depiction of these elements may be
exaggerated for clarity.
[0028] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing
particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of
the present disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms "a",
"an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well,
unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Furthermore, the
use of the terms a, an, etc. does not denote a limitation of
quantity, but rather denotes the presence of at least one of the
referenced item. The use of the terms "first", "second", and the
like does not imply any particular order, but they are included to
identify individual elements. Moreover, the use of the terms first,
second, etc. does not denote any order or importance, but rather
the terms first, second, etc. are used to distinguish one element
from another. It will be further understood that the terms
"comprises" and/or "comprising", or "includes" and/or "including"
when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated
features, regions, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or
components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or
more other features, regions, integers, steps, operations,
elements, components, and/or groups thereof. Although some features
may be described with respect to individual exemplary embodiments,
aspects need not be limited thereto such that features from one or
more exemplary embodiments may be combinable with other features
from one or more exemplary embodiments.
[0029] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a user terminal
according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
[0030] The user terminal of FIG. 1 may be a mobile device capable
of communicating with other user terminals or a service server
through one or more wireless communication networks. For example,
the user terminal may include, without limitation, a mobile phone,
a Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG)-1 or MPEG 2 Audio Layer III
(MP3) player, a digital camera, a portable multimedia player, a
navigation system, an electronic dictionary, an e-book reader, a
digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB) receiver, a smartphone, a
tablet computer, or the like. The user terminal may also include a
fixed device, such as a personal computer (PC), capable of
communicating with another user terminal or a service server
through a wired/wireless communication network.
[0031] In addition, the user terminal of FIG. 1 may be capable of
performing an integrated communication. More specifically, the user
terminal may be equipped devices or hardware/software components to
support a Rich Communication Suite (RCS) capability. According to
aspects of the invention, integrated communication may include, or
have similar or same meaning as, RCS. The user terminal may be a
device capable of communicating with another user terminal or a
service server according to integrated communication services,
which may be in compliance with the current RCS standards and/or
the future integrated communication services, which may be in
compliance with RCS standard updates. Such integrated communication
capabilities may be implemented by a predetermined application
equipped in the terminal or be provided to the user terminal by
additionally installing an application with the integrated
communication capabilities to the terminal.
[0032] Content described herein may refer to one or more types of
data capable of being transmitted through the integrated
communication service, and there is no limit in the form of data.
For example, content may include chat data, such as, text
communications, voice call, image data, such as photos, data
related to terminal presence, such as location information, video
data, such as video and video call, general file data, such as
documents, uniform resource location (URL) information, and the
like.
[0033] Referring to FIG. 1, the user terminal includes a
communicator 100, an integrated communication provider 200, a
communication history manager 300, an interface manager 400, and an
image display 500. FIG. 1 schematically illustrates some, but not
all, of the elements that may be included in the user terminal and
may not limited thereto. Therefore, the user terminal may further
include additional elements to perform other operations in the user
terminal. The additional elements may vary based on the type,
capabilities, or performance of the user terminal. For example, the
user terminal may further include a sensor, such as a gravity
sensor, a proximity sensor, and an acceleration sensor, an
oscillator, a global positioning system (GPS), a broadcast
receiver, and the like.
[0034] The communicator 100 may enable the user terminal to
transmit and/or receive data to and/or from another user terminal
or a service server through an external network. According to
aspects of the invention, the communicator 100 may be capable of
transmitting and/or receiving various types of content in an
integrated communication environment provided by the integrated
communication provider 200, which will be described later. The
communicator 100 may communicate according to one or more
communication protocols, and the number and type of the protocols
are not limited. The communication protocol may include, without
limitation, a mobile communication protocol, such as Global System
for Mobile Communication (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access
(CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Time
Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Long Term Evolution (LTE), and
Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A), and a short-range
communication protocol, such as wireless local access network
(WLAN), Bluetooth.RTM., and ZigBee.RTM.. However, aspects of the
invention are not limited thereto, such that the communicator 100
may communicate according to a different type of communication
protocol.
[0035] The integrated communication provider 200 may provide the
user terminal with an integrated communication environment or
support an integrated communication service. The integrated
communication environment provided by the integrated communication
provider 200 may allow the transmission of various types of
content, such as audio, image, and text.
[0036] For example, the integrated communication provider 200 may
allow the transmission and/or reception of content through
integrated communication services in accordance with current or
future RCS standards. More specifically, the integrated
communication provider 200 may allow the transmission and/or
reception of multimedia data or content, such as audio content,
video content, and text content, based on user's presence. In
addition, the integrated communication provider 200 may permit
all-internet protocol (IP)-based communication of messaging and
circuit switched (CS)-based voice domain.
[0037] In addition, the integrated communication provider 200 may
enable the user to perform one or more activities, for example,
watching a video, sharing a photo, and chat, while on a voice call.
The integrated communication provider 200 may also enable various
contents, such as a photo, location information, video, music,
document files, URL information, along with a simple text message,
to be simultaneously transmitted. Further, the integrated
communication provider 200 may support transmission and/or
reception of various other contents, which may be developed in
future, and provide an environment to allow complex services to be
provided based on such content.
[0038] The integrated communication provider 200 may provide an
independent integrated communication environment while directly
managing various contents used in communications. Further, the
integrated communication provider 200 may provide an integrated
communication environment while managing content in association
with a content management device, which may manage content in an
existing system equipped in the user terminal. For example, the
integrated communication provider 200 may directly manage the
content received from Android content provider (not shown), or
indirectly manage the content by controlling a content in
association with a content management device, thereby providing the
integrated communication environment.
[0039] The communication history manager 300 may manage a
communication history in the integrated communication environment.
The communication history may refer to a group of information
related to communications made in the integrated communication
environment. More specifically, the communication history may refer
to a group of information related to content or group of content
information, which may be transmitted to and/or received from
another user terminal through an integrated communication system
for a predetermined period of time.
[0040] The predetermined period of time may refer to a period of
time for which the integrated communication service may be used, or
a particular range of time that may be set by the user or the
system. The content information may include, without limitation,
information related to content, for example, content type, content
identifier, content name, content size, and the like. In addition,
the content information may further include information related to
the content transmission and/or reception, for example, content
transmission time and/or a content sender or recipient.
[0041] The communication history may be in various data forms. For
example, the communication history may be in a form of a linked
list, in which content information may be linked to corresponding
content according to the temporal order of the occurrence of
communication. However, aspects of the invention are not limited
thereto, such that the communication history may be a group of
content information that is displayed for one or more contents.
[0042] To manage a communication history, the communication history
manager 300 may collect content information about the content that
is transmitted or received in the integrated communication
environment. The communication history manager 300 may use various
methods to collect the content information. For example, the
communication history manager 300 may collect the content
information, for example, at least one of a content type, a content
identifier, a content name, a content size and the like. The
communication history manager 300 may collect content information
by using information included in header of data, transmitted or
received in the integrated communication environment. In addition
to or separately from the aforementioned information, the
communication history manager 300 may collect various types of
content information (e.g., content type, content identifier,
content size, content transmission time, and content
sender/recipient) related to content that is transmitted or
received in communication with the integrated communication
provider 200.
[0043] In addition, the communication history manager 300 may
collect content information, for example, content type information
of content transmitted or received according to Global System for
Mobile Communication Association (GSMA) standards.
[0044] FIG. 2 is a table listing file formats used in integrated
communication services introduced by GSMA according to an exemplary
embodiment of the present invention.
[0045] For example, referring to FIG. 2, the communication history
manager 300 may analyze the type of content based on suffixes of
content, e.g., file extensions of the content used in the
integrated communication services. For example, the communication
history manager 300 may determine and collect content type
information, such as suffixes associated with the content. For
example, content type information may include a suffix of "avi" for
video content and "mp3" for music content. However, aspects are not
limited thereto such that other formats may be used, for example,
"mov" for video content.
[0046] Referring back to FIG. 1, the communication history manager
300 may manage the communication history based on the collected
content information. The communication history manager 300 may use
various methods for managing communication history. For example,
the communication history manager 300 may manage the communication
history according to content type, as one kind of content
information. Further, the communication history manager 300 may
manage the communication history based on at least one of a content
name, content size, content sender and/or recipient, and content
transmission and/or reception time.
[0047] The communication history manager 300 may generate a
communication history using at least one type of content
information, and may update the existing communication history for
the history management. More specifically, the communication
history manager 300 may generate the communication history from the
content information. The communication history may include
information about at least one of a content name, a content size, a
content transmission time, and a content type. In addition, the
communication history manager 300 may update the communication
history by adding information about new communication to the
existing communication history. Further, if appropriate, the
communication history manager 300 may delete or edit some or all
content information in the communication history.
[0048] The communication history manager 300 may use various
methods to manage the communication history. For example, the
communication history manager 300 may generate a plurality of
communication histories. The communication history may be generated
and managed according to content types. For example, the
communication history manager 300 may classify a content according
to a type, such as chat/messaging, music, photo, video, word
document, a general file, location information, URL, and the like.
The communication history manager 300 may independently manage the
communication history for each content type or groups of content
types. In addition, the communication history may be generated and
managed separately according to a communication partner, and
content sender and/or recipient. The communication history may be
stored in various data forms.
[0049] The interface manager 400 may control a predetermined user
interface or user interface features to be displayed on a screen
based on the communication history managed by the communication
history manager 300. The user interface or its features may be
displayed by classifying the communication history according to one
or more predefined criteria. The user interface may be displayed
according to, for example, content types, but the aspects of the
invention are not limited thereto. For example, the user interface
may be displayed based on at least one of a content name, a content
size, content sender and/or recipient, and content
transmission/reception time.
[0050] Further, upon running of an application, the interface
manager 400 may control the user interface associated with the
communication history to be displayed along with the display of the
application. According to aspects of the invention, the user
interface may refer to a user interface or user interface feature
that is associated with a communication history. Further, the user
interface may refer to a display screen associated with an executed
application (e.g., RCS call application), which may include another
user interface related to the communication history. In addition,
the form of the displayed user interface may be the same regardless
of the application type, or may vary with the application type. For
example, a user interface associated with a call history
application, which may be displayed along with a display of the
existing call history, may have different form or functionality
from that of a user interface associated with a contact
application, which may display contacts stored in the user terminal
additionally on the existing contact screen.
[0051] Upon running of a particular application in the user
terminal, the interface manager 400 may load a communication
history to be displayed by the running application, generate a user
interface or user interface feature based on the loaded
communication history, and display the user interface or user
interface features along with the original display screen. The
location and design of the user interface or user interface feature
to be added to the original display screen (e.g., a screen
designated to be displayed by the running application) may be set
by a user. However, aspects of the invention are not limited
thereto, such that the location and the design of the user
interface or user interface features may be set automatically.
[0052] The interface manager 400 may display the whole
communication history as a user interface. The interface manager
400 may also generate only a part of communication history as a
user interface and display the generated user interface on the
display. If the interface manager 400 generates and displays a part
of the communication history as a user interface, the interface
manager 400 may generate a user interface set by an application
based on the communication history that has not been locked among
the whole communication history managed by the communication
history manager 300. The communication history managed by the
communication history manager 300 may include lock setting
information. For example, the communication history may be locked
according to the contact or type of communication, and the
interface manager 400 may exclude the locked communication history
when generating a user interface.
[0053] In addition, the user terminal may include a lock setting
capability to allow a user to arbitrarily lock or unlock the whole
or part of the communication history. According to aspects of the
invention, methods or procedures for implementing the lock setting
capability are not limited. When the user unlocks the locked
communication history, the interface manager 400 may display the
unlocked communication history on the display through the user
interface.
[0054] A user interface may be configured or set by an application
to be displayed upon execution of the application. Further, the
user interface may display icons corresponding to or in association
with a communication history. Icons representing communication
history may be predefined to be associated with certain content
types. More specifically, when the user interface set by the
application is set to display communication history classified
based on a content type (e.g., photo), the interface manager 400
may display a particular icon that represents intention of the
communication (e.g., sharing of pictures) included in the
communication history. Further, the interface manager 400 may
replace and display an icon for a content type that has already
been communicated, transmitted, or received.
[0055] The interface manager 400 may receive a control signal
through the user interface set by the application. The user
interface may include an input section or region to receive the
control signal from the user. In addition, the user interface may
include one or more icons or menus, such as a drop-down menu, to
receive various control signals. For example, the user interface
may include one or more icons to receive control signals for
instructing at least one of an execution, transmission, sharing of
content, or providing a drop-down menu to receive control signals
for selecting particular content type.
[0056] In addition, the interface manager 400 may change a display
screen in response to the received control signal. More
specifically, the interface manager 400 may re-generate a user
interface set by an application in response to the control signal,
and display the re-generated user interface. Further, the display
screen displayed in response to the control signal may vary with a
type of the control signal. For example, in response to a control
signal for selecting a content type, the interface manager 400 may
display a communication history related to the selected content
type using a predefined user interface. In addition, in response to
a control signal for selecting one or more contacts from a contact
list, the interface manager 400 may display a communication history
corresponding to the selected contact using a different user
interface.
[0057] In response to a control signal, the interface manager 400
may run an application, generate a new user interface set by the
application, and display the generated user interface. For example,
in response to a control signal for running an application to play
an MP3 file, the interface manager 400 may execute the application
to play the MP3 file and display the set user interface for the
application. Further, in response to a control signal for
transmitting a particular content, the interface manager 400 may
execute an application and/or a function of the user terminal for
transmitting the content, and display a relevant user interface on
the display.
[0058] The image display 500 may display a user interface under the
control of the interface manager 400, and transfer the control
signal generated from the user's input to the interface manager
400. For example, the image display 500 may be a touch screen.
[0059] FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method for displaying a
communication history of a user terminal supporting integrated
communication service according to an exemplary embodiment of the
present invention.
[0060] The method for FIG. 3 may be executed in the user terminal
described with reference to FIG. 1. Description of the method for
displaying a communication history may be limited to avoid
redundancy in description. The descriptions omitted hereinafter,
regarding the display of a communication history, may be similar or
the same as those described above with reference to FIG. 1.
[0061] Referring to FIG. 3, the user terminal may collect and
manage a communication history of content transmitted or received
using an integrated communication service in operation S11. The
communication history may be temporal information about content
transmitted or received in an integrated communication environment.
More specifically, the user terminal may collect content
information of content transmitted or received in the integrated
communication environment, classify types of content based on the
collected content information, and manage the communication history
according to the classification type. The integrated communication
environment may refer to communications using various types of
contents as well as general communication medium, such as voice,
images, and text.
[0062] In operation S13, the user terminal monitors whether a
particular application is running or not. The application may be an
application dedicated for an RCS call and/or an associated
application (e.g., one menu of an RCS call application). Further,
the application may be, without limitation, an application for an
independent phonebook, an RCS call history, or file management. For
example, there is no limit in applications to be monitored as long
as its associated display screen is adequate to display a
communication history in accordance with a predefined standard. The
communication history may be managed by the communication history
manager 300 (see FIG. 1). In response to a determination made in
operation S13 that the particular application is not running, the
flow chart proceeds to operation S11 to continue to collect and
manage the communication history.
[0063] In response to a determination made in operation S13 that
the particular application is running, the flow chart proceeds to
operation S15 in which the user terminal generates a user interface
set by the running application. The user interface may be generated
based on the communication history, which may be displayed on a
display screen. The user interface may be generated by adding a
user interface or user interface feature related to a communication
history to an existing user interface associated with the running
application. In addition, as described above, form or function of
the user interface to be added may vary based on the application
type. Further, even the same application may have a different or
additional user interface displayed in relation to a different
communication history, which may be based on the operational status
of the application.
[0064] One or more operations of the method for displaying a
communication history shown in FIG. 3 will be described in more
detail below.
[0065] FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating details of operation S11
of FIG. 3 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present
invention.
[0066] Referring to FIG. 4, a user terminal monitors communications
performed in an integrated communication environment in operation
S111. The integrated communication environment may allow
communications using various types of content in addition to
general content, such as voice, image, and text. For example, the
integrated communication environment may be provided by the
integrated communication provider 200 of FIG. 1.
[0067] According to aspects of the invention, the user terminal may
monitor communications performed in the integrated communication
environment in various ways. For example, the user terminal may
monitor its communications activities by monitoring an operation of
a configuration device used for providing a communication
environment, or monitoring data input/output of the user
terminal.
[0068] When communication activity is detected, the user terminal
collects content information in operation S113. The user terminal
may use various methods to collect the content information. For
example, the user terminal may use various information about
transmitted or received content (e.g., a file name, additional
information of a file, a file extension, a communication time,
sender/recipient information, etc.) to collect content information.
Further, separately or together with the information about the
transmitted or received content, the user information may collect
content information by analyzing header of data or content
transmitted or received in the integrated communication environment
or by using a simple method while utilizing GSMA standards.
[0069] The user terminal manages a communication history based on
the collected content information in operation S115. More
specifically, the user terminal may generate a new communication
history using at least one piece of content information among the
collected content information. In addition, the user terminal may
update the communication history by adding information about a new
communication to the existing communication history. Further, when
appropriate, the user terminal may delete or edit information about
some communications included in the communication history or delete
the entire communication history. The user terminal may manage the
communication history in various methods. For example, the user
terminal may manage the communication history separately according
to the type of content transmitted or received, or according to the
contacts. However, aspects of the invention are not limited
thereto, such that the user terminal may manage the communication
history according to other information or a combination of
information.
[0070] FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating details of operation S15
of FIG. 3. In addition, FIG. 6A, FIG. 6B, FIG. 6C, FIG. 6D, FIG.
6E, and FIG. 6F are diagrams illustrating a user interface that is
capable of being modified based on a communication history
according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention.
[0071] Referring to FIG. 5, the user terminal may load a
communication history to be displayed on an interface in operation
S151. Further, the user terminal may select a communication history
to be loaded, if appropriate. For example, the user may load a
communication history related to some types of content, or content
related to a particular sharer or information included in an
address book.
[0072] Moreover, the user terminal displays the user interface that
may be predefined or preset by a running application together with
the user interface feature related to the communication history on
the screen in operation S153. More specifically, the user terminal
may control the user interface, which is associated with the
communication history loaded in operation S151, to be added to an
original display screen of the running application. Further, the
user interface associated with the communication history may vary
based on the kind of application. However, aspects of the invention
are not limited thereto, such that the user interface associated
with the communication history may vary even with the same
application. Further, the user interface may vary based on the
operational status of the application.
[0073] A user interface associated with an application history may
be displayed in various forms. For example, the user interface
associated with the application history may be displayed as icons
on the display. However, aspects of the invention are not limited
thereto, such that the user interface associated with the
application history may be displayed in different forms. Further,
the user terminal may display the communication history by
replacing a particular icon for only a history of content that has
been communicated.
[0074] FIG. 6A is a diagram illustrating a screen displayed on the
user terminal in response to an RCS call history selected in an RCS
call application according to an exemplary embodiment of the
present invention.
[0075] Referring to FIG. 6A, the user interface associated with a
communication history may indicate RCS calls, each being
represented as a particular shape of icon, including a P icon 11a,
a C icon 12a, a F icon 13a, a E icon 14a, a V icon 15a, and a G
icon 16a on an RCS call history screen 10a. Referring to FIG. 6A,
photo content may be indicated by by P icon 11a, content
corresponding to a chat message is represented by icon C 12a,
content as a general file is represented by icon F 13a, content as
URL information is represented by icon E 14a, video content is
represented by icon V 15a, and location information content is
represented by icon G 16a. However, the aspects of the invention
are not limited thereto, such that the icons may have different
forms, including forms allowing the user to intuitively recognize
the content type.
[0076] Further, the user terminal may not display icons for content
that has not been communicated in the RCS call. For example, in
FIG. 6A, for the RCS call with Pet Lilly at 3:50 p.m., icon P 11a
and icon C 12a are displayed to indicate that the RCS call was made
in which the photo content and a content corresponding to a chat
message was transferred or received. However, aspects of the
invention are not limited thereto, such that, unlike the above
example, icons for all types of content available to be transmitted
or received through RCS call may be displayed but appearing
differently for transmitted/received content type and for
non-transmitted/received content type. For example, the icons for
the transmitted/received content type and the
non-transmitted/received content type may be differentiated by
differentiating a displaying method (e.g., using a solid-lined box
and a dotted-lined box, or varying the opacity of the icons).
[0077] Referring back to FIG. 5, in operation S153, the user
terminal generates a user interface associated with an application
running based on an unlocked communication history, and displays
the generated user interface. More specifically, the communication
history may include lock setting information according to the
contact or communication type, and the user terminal may exclude
the locked communication history when generating a user
interface.
[0078] FIG. 6B and FIG. 6C are diagrams illustrating a screen
displayed when some communication histories are locked in the user
interface shown in FIG. 6A according to exemplary embodiments of
the present invention.
[0079] FIG. 6B illustrates a screen that may be displayed when all
communication history with David Foster becomes locked. FIG. 6C
illustrates a screen that may be displayed when a particular
content type, such as photos, becomes locked. Referring to FIG. 6B,
a screen 10b is displayed, on which a call record with David Foster
is erased from a call history of the user terminal displaying all
RCS call records shown in FIG. 6A. However, aspects of the
invention are not limited thereto, such that the display may
display the call record with David Foster but hide icons
corresponding to the content types that were transmitted/received
to/from David Foster, such as F icon 13a and E icon 14a of FIG. 6A.
Referring to FIG. 6C, a screen 10b is displayed, on which a P icon
11a of FIG. 6A indicating photo content is removed from the display
of icons that indicate various content types that were
transmitted/received to/from David Foster in the RCS call records
shown in FIG. 6A.
[0080] Referring back to FIG. 5, the user terminal monitors or
determines whether a control signal is inputted in operation S155.
More specifically, the user terminal may detect a control signal
generated through the user interface displayed on the screen. The
user interface set by the application may include a region where to
receive a control signal from a user. In the example shown in FIG.
6A, the display 10a of the user terminal may show icons 11a through
16a and dropdown menus 17a and 18a in a region of the display 10a,
and the display 10a may further include a separate input region 18
for receiving a control signal.
[0081] Referring back to FIG. 5, when a control signal is detected,
the user terminal may change a display screen in response to the
control signal in operation S157. Specifically, in response to the
control signal being inputted, the user terminal may generate a new
user interface or modify the displayed user interface based on a
communication history. Further, the screen displayed in response to
the control signal may vary according to a type of control signal.
Further, the user terminal may generate a user interface based on
select communication histories and display the generated user
interface.
[0082] FIG. 6D is a diagram illustrating a user interface that may
be displayed on a display screen when a control signal indicating a
selection of icon E 14a that represents URL content from a call
history with David Foster is detected. Referring to FIG. 6D, in
response to a detection of a selection of icon E 14a, the user
terminal extracts communication history with David Foster in
relation the URL content, and displays a screen 10d of a new user
interface generated using the extracted communication history with
respect to the URL content. More specifically, FIG. 6D illustrates
that URLs "www.pantech.com" and "www.naver.com" were
transmitted/received to/from David Foster.
[0083] FIG. 6E is a diagram illustrating a user interface displayed
when a dropdown menu 18a shown in FIG. 6A is selected or when one
of the items included in list 18b appearing in the dropdown menu
18a being is selected. Referring back to FIG. 6A, in response to a
detection that the dropdown menu 18a is touched or selected, the
user terminal displays the list 18b on an upper layer of the screen
to allow the user to select one or more items included in the list
18b. Referring to FIG. 6E, in response to a control signal being
inputted to select the "photo" item included in the list 18b, the
user terminal may extract communication histories related to photo
content from among various types of content, and display the
extracted communication histories on a screen 10e of the user
terminal.
[0084] FIG. 6F is a diagram illustrating a display screen of the
user terminal when a control signal for selecting a contact in a
predetermined or designated input region is detected.
[0085] Referring to FIG. 6F, the user terminal may extract a
communication history with David Foster when an input is detected
in the input region for selecting David Foster, and display all the
extracted communication histories with David Foster. More
specifically, David Foster may be selected from the communication
history displayed (see FIG. 6A). Further, on screen 11f displayed
on the user terminal, the communication events may be displayed
according to the temporal order of the occurrence. In FIG. 6F, file
communication information 12f and URL communication information 15f
may be displayed sequentially according to the temporal order of
the occurrence of the communication events. However, aspects of the
invention are not limited thereto, such that the communication
events may be displayed according to a type of content.
[0086] Further, communication histories, including file
communication information 12f and URL communication information
15f, may further have an additional icon for indicating an
additional function(s) that may utilize the corresponding
communication. For example, referring to FIG. 6F, the file
communication information 12f may be displayed with icons for, for
example, re-send button 13f, quick view button 14f, and the like.
The URL communication information 15f may be displayed along with
re-send button 16f, direct connection button 17f, and the like.
Further, the icons additionally displayed according to the content
type associated with each communication history may vary.
[0087] FIG. 7A, FIG. 7B, and FIG. 7C are diagrams illustrating a
method for displaying an integrated communication history when an
application, other than an RCS call application, is executed
according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention.
[0088] The contacts application illustrated in FIG. 7A, FIG. 7B,
and FIG. 7C may include, without limitation, a contact management
application that manages at least one contact stored in the user
terminal. FIG. 7A illustrates a user interface displayed on the
display screen when "Amanda Jason" is selected from the running
contacts application. However, aspects of the invention are not
limited thereto, such that the user interface may be configured
differently. The display screen of FIG. 7A in association with the
contacts application may be the same as a display screen that may
be displayed when the user selects "Amanda Jason" by selecting an
icon 18f for showing contacts.
[0089] Referring FIG. 5 and FIG. 7A, the user terminal loads a
communication history of "Amanda Jason" in operation S151. In
operation S153, the user terminal additionally displays a
predetermined user interface, which may be generated based on the
loaded communication history, on an initial display screen that is
displayed upon executing the contacts application. The user
interface features additionally displayed on the screen in relation
to the communication history may be either or both of a
communication history icon 21a and a scheduled RCS sharing icon
22a.
[0090] In operation S155, the user terminal monitors an input of
the control signal. For example, the user terminal may detect a
control signal generated or inputted through a user interface
feature 21a or 22a. More specifically, the user terminal may detect
or determine whether the user has touched a corresponding icon 21a
or 22a. Further, in S157, when it is detected that the control
signal has been generated, the user terminal changes the display
screen in response to the control signal. The screen display to be
changed may vary according to a type of the generated control
signal (e.g., a type of the selected icon), and details of the
display screen may be set in the user terminal in advance. For
example, in response to a detection of the user touches on the
history icon 21a, the user terminal may display a new user
interface in a popup window 23a to show the communication history
of selected "Amanda Jason." FIG. 7A illustrates communication
histories are displayed as icons for each content type. For
example, the popup window 23a may display the communication
histories in a temporal sequence (e.g., in order from recent
communication to old). However, aspects of the invention are not
limited thereto, such that the popup window 23a may display
communication histories according to different attributes or in
different temporal sequence.
[0091] In response to detecting a control signal from the user that
selects icon C, which may indicate content associated with a chat
message, the user terminal may extract chat conversation history
with "Amanda Jason," and display a user interface generated based
on the extracted communication history on the display. FIG. 7B is a
diagram illustrating display screen 20b, which displays a button
with recommended response "ok, see you tomorrow", recent chat
messages exchanged with "Amanda Jason," and a menu (e.g., "Send"
icon) for sending the text. In another example, the communication
history may be displayed in various ways. For example, a list of
chat messages exchanged with "Amanda Jason" may be displayed in
order of date.
[0092] In response to detecting a control signal selecting a
scheduled sharing icon 22a displayed on the display screen, the
user terminal may further display a new or modified user interface
allowing the user to select content to be shared. For example, a
user interface feature, such as the popup window 23a, which may
enable the user to select a type of content may be displayed.
Further, a list of contents with respect to its type selected
through the icon may be displayed, or a list of contents without
regard to its type, all or a predetermined number of content that
are available for sharing may be displayed. The list of contents
may be displayed in a form of a time-ordered list. However, aspects
of the invention are not limited thereto, such that the list of
contents may be ordered based on other attributes. Further, in
response to a control signal being input from the user to select a
particular type of content, the user terminal may display a list of
the selected content types that may be available for sharing. For
example, in response to the user's selection of icon V, a list of
videos (e.g., music videos) available for sharing may be displayed
on a display screen 20c as shown in FIG. 7C.
[0093] FIG. 8A, FIG. 8B, FIG. 8C, and FIG. 8D are diagrams
illustrating a method for displaying an integrated communication
history when an application, other than an RCS call application, is
executed according to exemplary embodiments of the present
invention.
[0094] The search application shown in FIG. 8A, FIG. 8B, FIG. 8C,
and FIG. 8D may search for particular information (e.g., RCS call
history, history of content shared through RCS call) from memory of
a user terminal. In addition, the example shown in FIG. 8A may be a
user terminal displayed in response to search for a history of
content shared through RCS call. However, aspects of the invention
are not limited thereto. A display screen of the search application
shown in FIG. 8A may be a screen displayed in response to user's
selecting a list of content shared using a share operation or share
menu in the RCS call application.
[0095] Referring to FIG. 5 and FIG. 8A, the user terminal displays
a display screen 30a by adding user interface features 31 a and
34b, which are related to the communication history, to an original
display screen associated with the search application in operation
S153. Referring to FIG. 8A, the user terminal may additionally
display, on the screen 30a, a text input box 34a, a content type
icon 31a, and a menu button 33a, which recites "ATTACH AFTER
CHANGING SHARING HISTORY," for sharing found content. Further, the
user terminal may also display a shared content list based on
communication histories, which may be generated in temporal order
of sharing. The text input box 34a may enable the user to search
for intended content and the content type icon 31a may specify a
type of searched content.
[0096] In operation S135, the user terminal monitors whether a
control signal corresponding to a touch of the user to any of the
additionally displayed user interface features, including a content
type icon 31a, a menu button 33a, and a text input box 34a has
occurred. In response to a detection of the control signal, the
user terminal may change the display screen in response to the
control signal in operation S137. For example, when the user
touches the content type icon 31a, an icon enabling the user to
select content type to be searched for may be displayed in a popup
window 32a, which may be overlaid over the current display.
Further, when a control signal is generated due to the selection of
one of displayed icons, the user terminal may display a
communication history related to the selected content type on the
screen. A user interface displayed on the screen may vary based on
the selected content type. A more efficient method for displaying
content may differ according to the content type, and menus
associated with the RCS service may vary based on the content
type.
[0097] FIG. 8B and FIG. 8C are diagrams illustrating a screen
displayed according to content type found in FIG. 8A (content type
selected through the user interfaces 31a and 33a) according to
exemplary embodiments of the present invention. FIG. 8B shows a
screen when the content type is chat (icon C) according to an
exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8C shows a
screen when the content type is photo (icon P) according to an
exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
[0098] Referring to FIG. 8B, when a chat message is selected as a
content type to be searched, the user terminal may search or detect
a communication history related to a chat message, and display a
screen 30b showing chat information (e.g., chat lists arranged by
date/friend). Further, one or more chat lists shown in the screen
30b may display a predetermined user interface related to the chat
message or service. Further, as shown in FIG. 8B, a menu 3 lb may
be displayed along with the screen 30b, allowing the user to select
display of all conversations.
[0099] Referring to FIG. 8C, when a photo is selected as a content
type to be searched, the user terminal may detect a communication
history related to photos, and display a screen 30c showing photo
information (e.g., lists of photos that have been transmitted or
received through RCS call). The screen 30c may be generated based
on the detected communication history. Further, one or more photo
lists shown in the screen 30c may display a predefined user
interface related to the photo. Referring to FIG. 8C, a menu 31c is
displayed along with the screen 30c, which may allow the user to
select display of a history of the photo being shared through the
RCS call, e.g., the transmission/reception history.
[0100] FIG. 8D illustrates a screen displayed on a display of the
user terminal when the user selects a history icon 31c displayed on
or with a photo of a ballpoint pen (the photo name may be
"ballpoint.jpg") on the top of the screen 30c shown in FIG. 8C.
Referring to FIG. 8D, in response to the user's touch on the
history icon 31c, a file name of the selected file may appear in a
text box 31d on the top of the screen 30d. Further, under the text
box 31d, a communication history related to the transmission or
reception of the selected file is in the form of list consisting of
communication events in a temporal sequence. Each communication
events in the list shown in FIG. 8D has P icon associated with it,
which may indicate that the selected file, e.g., "ballpoint.jpg"
file has been communicated during the corresponding communication.
In addition, one or more events included in the list may also
display a user interface feature, such as an icon, for performing
another operation with respect to the intended content, for
example, resending of the selected file through RCS service (e.g.,
"Re-send" menu button 32d).
[0101] According to the exemplary embodiments of the present
invention, communication histories may be managed according to a
type of content transmitted or received in an integrated
communication environment. Further, the communication histories may
be provided based on the content type, so that communication
details can be more efficiently displayed to the user. Further, the
communication histories may be displayed using interfaces including
various icons or input areas thereby increasing accessibility and
reusability of the communicated content.
[0102] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various
modifications and variations can be made in the present invention
without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus,
it is intended that the present invention cover the modifications
and variations of this invention provided they come within the
scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.
* * * * *