JP4451641B2 - Mobile phone - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a mobile phone having an address book function, and more particularly to an improvement in technology for shortening the time required for address book search.

When searching for an address book, it is necessary to input characters for the name to be searched. On the other hand, the number of keys in a mobile phone is about 10 at most, and one character cannot be assigned to one key like a keyboard of a personal computer. Therefore, there is a technique in which characters to be input are grouped into a set of 3 to 5 characters, and each character set is assigned to each key. For example, in the case of kana characters, a character set belonging to each line of the Japanese syllabary is assigned to each key, and in the case of alphabets, a character set belonging to three or four characters is assigned in alphabetical order. By assigning a character set of several characters to each key in this way, the user can input all kana characters and alphabets using ten keys. There are the following techniques for performing address book search by such key assignment. This is performed by long pressing, which is an operation of pressing a key to which a character set is assigned for a predetermined time, and searches for names starting from characters belonging to the character set assigned to the pressed key in groups from the address book, The result is displayed as a list. For example, when searching for a name that starts with the “a” line of kana characters, the key to which the “a” line is assigned is pressed long. Then, the names that begin with the readings of “A”, “I”, “U”, “E”, “O” belonging to the “A” line are listed in alphabetical order. Then, select the other party you want to communicate with from the list of names displayed. Regarding such an address book search, there is a prior art described in Patent Document 1.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-163999

  However, recently, mobile phones that can register as many as 500 names in the address book are on the market, and dozens of names that start with characters belonging to a certain character set are registered. In such a case, even if the address book is searched by the method described in Patent Document 1, it is not possible to display a list of search results on a single screen, so it may take time to find a partner to communicate with. is there. For example, if dozens of names are registered for the “A” line, and you try to display a list of names that start with the “A” line, the name that starts with the reading “A” and “I” Names that begin with “o” appear later. In this case, it is necessary to scroll the screen many times until a name such as “Ozawa” that starts with the last kana character in the “A” line is displayed, and it takes time to search. Such a problem can occur not only with kana characters but also with alphabets.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a mobile phone that does not require the trouble of searching an address book and is easier for the user to use than before.

  A mobile phone that performs an address book search based on an operation by a user, a storage unit that stores an address book indicating a plurality of communication destination information in association with each name, a first character of a name to be searched, and Accepting means that accepts designation from the user as to which character set the second character belongs to among a plurality of character sets, and of the plurality of names in the address book that match the designation of the character set accepted by the accepting means And a reading means for reading the name corresponding to the information from the address book together with the communication destination information.

  Since the mobile phone according to the present invention has the above-described configuration, when searching the address book, the character set to which the first character and the second character of the name belong is designated. When a large number of names beginning with "." Are registered, only those having the first and second characters of the name belonging to the designated character set are read out. In such reading, the number of names read from the address book is small, and this narrows down the search. As a result, the number of names displayed on the screen as search results can be reduced, so even when searching for names that start with the last kana character in the line of Japanese syllabary such as “Ozawa”, a list is displayed. It is possible to easily find out from the retrieved results, and the user's hands are not bothered.

  Further, each time the key is pressed, the reception unit measures the time for which the key press is continued, and if at least the last key press time out of a plurality of key presses is a predetermined time or more, The key press and key press before the key press may be interpreted as a character set designation. As a result, the key press can be designated as a character set by a long press with a key press duration of a predetermined time or more. Since the search can be narrowed down by a simple operation of long press, there is no need to bother the user.

  In addition, the address book stores a search code corresponding to the kana reading of each name of the communication destination information, and the search code identifies the kana reading of the name of the communication destination information in a line of a Japanese syllabary. It may be expressed by a combination of numbers. As a result, a search code corresponding to the kana reading of each name can be stored in the address book. Therefore, when performing an address book search, a search using a search code that is an identification number of a Japanese syllabary line is performed. Processing is possible. Since the search code can indicate the kana characters belonging to each line with a single number, there is no need to search all the kana characters belonging to that line for the kana reading of each name stored in the address book, so it can be searched quickly. Processing can be performed.

Hereinafter, embodiments of a mobile phone according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
<Configuration>
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of a mobile phone according to the present invention. The cellular phone includes an antenna 1, an RF unit 2, a BB unit 3, an operation unit 4, a memory 5, a control unit 6, and a display unit 10.
The RF unit 2 performs a conversion process between a high-frequency signal and a baseband signal. When receiving an incoming call, the high frequency signal input from the antenna 1 is amplified, converted into a baseband signal, and output to the BB unit 3. At the time of transmission, the baseband signal output from the BB unit 3 is converted into a high frequency signal, amplified and transmitted.

The BB unit 3 performs transmission / reception processing on the baseband signal. When receiving an incoming call, the baseband signal output from the RF unit 2 is subjected to reception processing to obtain digital data, which is output to the control unit 6. At the time of transmission, the baseband signal from the control unit 6 is output to the RF unit 2.
The operation unit 4 has a plurality of keys so that various operations such as outgoing calls, transmission of mail, and address book search can be performed. A plurality of keys provided in the operation unit 4 are roughly classified into a number key for inputting numbers and characters and a direction key for moving the cursor. The numeric keys and direction keys will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the cellular phone according to the present invention, and shows the arrangement positions of the antenna 1, the operation unit 4, and the display unit 10.
As shown in the figure, the operation unit 4 has numeric keys 21 and direction keys 22.
Number keys 21 are assigned numbers, kana characters, and alphabets to each key, and these keys are used to input a telephone number, create a mail, register / search an address book, and the like. The address book can be searched by performing a long press, which is an operation of pressing the numeric key 21 for a predetermined time or more.

The direction key 22 has a function of moving the cursor. By depressing the direction key 22, the cursor can be moved, and a destination to be communicated can be designated from the address book search result displayed on the display unit 10. This is the end of the description of FIG.
The description of the internal configuration in FIG.
The memory 5 is a nonvolatile memory such as an EEPROM and stores an address book registered by the user. In the address book, information on the destination is registered. When a user makes a call or sends an e-mail, it is necessary to search an address book, select a destination to communicate with, and display a telephone number and an e-mail address. An example of the address book is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the address book is composed of items of display name, phonetic, phone number, and e-mail address, and information regarding each item is registered in association with the display name.

The control unit 6 is composed of a CPU, a ROM, a memory, and a timer. The CPU reads a program stored in the ROM and cooperates with hardware resources, so that a long press detection unit 7, a mode transition unit 8. Functions as the search unit 9. The memory included in the control unit 6 includes a flag memory and a working memory.
The flag memory stores a mode flag indicating a mode state indicating whether or not the mobile phone is in the address book search mode.

Each time a numeric key is pressed on the operation unit 4 in the work memory, characters assigned to the key are temporarily stored as a search character string in the order in which they are pressed. In addition, data extracted by searching from the address book is also stored.
When the number key of the operation unit 4 is pressed by the user, the timer measures the time during which the number key is pressed, and passes the measured time information to the long press detection unit 7.

The long press detection unit 7 detects from the time information received from the timer whether it is a long press that is a press for a predetermined time or more, or a short press that is a press within a predetermined time, and notifies the mode transition unit 8 of it. Here, the predetermined time means 2 seconds or more.
In response to the notification from the long press detection unit 7, the mode transition unit 8 changes the mode flag stored in the flag memory included in the control unit 6. The mode flag is a flag indicating a mode state in the cellular phone, and indicates “1” in the address book search mode and “0” in the normal mode indicating other modes. When the notification of long press is received from the long press detection unit 7, the mode flag is changed to “1”. Further, when the notification that the address book search is completed is received from the operation unit 4, the mode flag is changed to “0”.

  The search unit 9 has a function of monitoring the mode flag stored in the memory of the control unit 6 and performing address book search processing. In response to the change of the mode flag to “1”, the first character of the search character string stored in the work memory of the control unit 6 is read. A phonetic beginning with a character belonging to the read character set is searched from the address book, the data of the other party corresponding to the phonetic is extracted, and stored in the work memory of the control unit 6. Next, the second character of the search character string is read out, the partner data stored in the work memory of the control unit 6 is searched, the partner data is extracted, and the control unit 6 Update the data stored in the working memory. Such a search process is sequentially performed for all characters constituting the read character string. When the search process is completed, the data of the other party stored in the work memory of the control unit 6 is sorted in alphabetical order in the case of kana characters and alphabetically in the case of alphabets. And output to the display unit 10.

The display unit 10 is realized by a liquid crystal display or the like, and displays a result of a search process performed by the search unit 9 and the like. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a search result of the address book displayed on the display unit 10. Here, the search result of the display name having the “a” line as the first character and the “sa” line as the second character is displayed.
<Operation>
Next, the address book search operation of the mobile phone according to the present invention will be described with specific examples.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an address book provided in the mobile phone. Since this figure has already been explained, the explanation is omitted here. Here, as an example, consider the case where it is desired to communicate with “Ozawa” shown at the 14th position from the top of the figure. In that case, it is necessary to search the address book and display the telephone number and email address of "Ozawa".
Operations actually performed on the mobile phone will be described with reference to FIGS. First, as shown in FIG. 4, the number key dk1 assigned with “a”, which is a line of “50”, to which the first character “O” of “Ozawa” belongs is pressed down by a short press. Then, the number “1” assigned to the pressed number key is displayed on the screen. This is displayed because there is a case where a telephone number is directly inputted to make a call by short-pressing a key.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 5, the number key dk2 assigned with “sa”, which is a line of the Japanese syllabary to which the second character “za” of “Ozawa” belongs, is long pressed. Then, the number “3” assigned to the pressed number key is added to the screen, and “13” is displayed. When a predetermined time elapses with the numeric key pressed, the mobile phone shifts to the address book search mode. In response to the shift to the address book search mode, the address book search is started. Display names having readings belonging to the “a” line as the first character and the “sa” line as the second character are narrowed down, and the result is displayed. Here, the explanation is limited to kana characters, but actually, not only kana characters but also alphabets are searched. The numeric key dk1 is assigned “a”, the numeric key dk2 is assigned “sa” and “D”, “E”, “F”. A display name having “D”, “E”, “F” and a reading belonging to the “sa” line in the eye is searched.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the search result of the address book. As shown in this figure, the display names of “Aso”, “Ishii”, and “Ozawa” with readings belonging to the “a” line as the first character and the “sa” line as the second character are displayed in alphabetical order. Is done.
Next, address book search processing will be described. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the flow of the address book search process, and the case of a phonetic character to be searched will be described using this figure. When the number key is pressed while the standby screen is displayed (step S1), the character input by pressing the key is added to the search character string, and the working memory of the control unit 6 is used. (Step S2). If the key is pressed for a long time, the mode flag is set to “1”, and the mode shifts to the address book search mode (step S3). Then, all data in the address book is copied to the working memory of the control unit 6, and n indicating what character of the phonetic character is searched is set to “1” (step S4). It is determined whether or not n is larger than the search character string (step S5), and in the case of No, referring to the furigana registered in the address book, the fifth character of the nth character in the search character string is referred to. The data which the kana character which belongs to the line of ten sound has as the nth character of the phonetic is extracted (step S6). Then, the address book stored in the working memory of the control unit 6 is updated with the extracted data (step S7), n is incremented by "1", and the process returns to step S5 (step S8). In this flow, the point is that the processes in steps S6 and S7 are repeated according to the number of characters input in step S1, and the second and subsequent search can be realized by repeating these processes. In the case of Yes in step S5, the extracted data is sorted in alphabetical order and displayed as a list on the display unit 10 (step S9). This is the end of the description of the flow of address book search processing. The same flow can be performed when the phonetic to be searched is alphabetic.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when there are a large number of display names for a certain character set, the characters belonging to the character set assigned to the numeric key are set to 2 by pressing and holding the numeric key for the second character. Only the display name of the character is read from the address book. As a result, the search can be narrowed down and the number of display names displayed in the list is reduced. Therefore, the number of times the arrow key is pressed to specify a desired destination from the search result is reduced. Can do.
Second Embodiment
In the first embodiment, when the first character is short-pressed and the second character is long-pressed, the mobile phone is shifted to the address book search mode, and one character of the phonetic registered in the address book is entered. It has been described that the search processing is performed for the eyes and the second character. In the second embodiment, when the first character is long pressed, the mode is shifted to the address book search mode, the search result for the first character is displayed, and the second character is further pressed by pressing and holding the second character. This is an embodiment in which search processing is also performed.

The internal configuration of the mobile phone in the second embodiment is the same as that of the mobile phone in the first embodiment, but the operation of the search unit 9 is slightly different. Here, the description will focus on parts that are different from the first embodiment.
The search unit 9 has a function of monitoring the operation unit 4 and the mode flag stored in the flag memory of the control unit 6 and performing address book search processing. When the numeric key is pressed by the operation unit 4 when the mode flag is “1”, the phonetics are searched by the inputted characters, and the data of the other party corresponding to the phonetics is extracted. The data is stored in the memory. Then, the counterpart data stored in the work memory of the control unit 6 is sorted in alphabetical order and alphabetical order and output to the display unit 10.

  The address book search processing performed in the second embodiment will be described with reference to the flow shown in FIG. First, n is set to “1” (step S11). If the numeric key is pressed while the standby screen is displayed (step S12) and the key is pressed for a long time (step S13), the mode flag is set to “1” and the address book search is performed. The mode is changed (step S14). If the key is not pressed for a long time in step S13, it is determined whether or not the mode flag is “1”. If “Yes”, n is set to “1” (step S16). Next, data having the character on the same line as the input character as the nth character of the phonetic is extracted from the address book (step S17). The address book stored in the work memory of the control unit 6 is updated with the extracted data (step S18). Then, the extracted data is sorted in the order of the Japanese syllabary, displayed as a list on the display unit 10 (step S19), and n is incremented by “1” (step S20). Here, when other processes such as making a call using the retrieved data are performed, the address book search process is terminated (step S21). If not, the process returns to step S12. Each time the numeric key is pressed for a long time, the process from step S17 to step S19 is repeated, whereby the search for the second and subsequent characters can be realized. The same flow can be performed when the phonetic to be searched is alphabetic.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the number of display names displayed in a list is large as a result of searching for the first character by long pressing the first character, the second character is further displayed. By long-pressing, the search result can be narrowed down for the second character.
<Third Embodiment>
In the first embodiment, when the address book search process is performed, the phonetics registered in the address book are searched. The third embodiment is an embodiment in which a search code corresponding to a phonetic registered in the address book is registered together and an address book search process is performed using the search code.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a mobile phone according to the third embodiment. The internal configuration of the mobile phone according to the third embodiment is a configuration in which a registration unit 111 is added to the mobile phone according to the first embodiment. The operations of the control unit 106 and the search unit 109 are slightly different. Here, the description will focus on parts that are different from the first embodiment.
When the user registers information in the address book, the registration unit 111 automatically generates a search code corresponding to the phonetic and registers it in the address book in association with the display name like other information. Have. The search code is generated based on the numeric key pressed when inputting the display name. A specific generation method will be described using the display name “Aso”. To enter “Aso” in the address book, first press the number key assigned “A” once to input “A”. Since “1” is also assigned to the target numeric key in FIG. 2, “1” is registered in the search code item of the address book. Next, the numeric key assigned “sa” is pressed five times to input “so”. In this case, since “3” is also assigned to the target numeric key, “3” is added to the search code item of the address book. In this way, when the same key is pressed continuously, only the number input at the beginning is registered. Finally, the user presses the numeric key assigned “A” three times and inputs “U”. In this case, since “1” is also assigned to the target numeric key, “1” is added to the search code item of the address book. By performing the above processing, “131” is registered in the search code item of the address book.

Thus, since the search code is automatically generated when registering the display name, the user can register the search code without being aware of it.
FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of an address book in which search codes generated by the registration unit 111 are registered. As shown in the figure, the search code is registered in association with the display name, and the search code is referenced instead of the phonetic when performing the address book search process.

The control unit 106 has a work memory as in the first embodiment. Each time a number key is pressed on the operation unit 4, the number assigned to the key is pressed in the work memory. Temporarily stored as a numeric string for search. In addition, data extracted by searching from the address book is also stored.
The search unit 109 has a function of monitoring a mode flag stored in the memory of the control unit 106 and performing an address book search process. In response to the mode flag changing to “1”, the search digit string stored in the working memory of the control unit 106 is read. Using the read number string for search, the search code registered in the address book is searched, the data of the other party corresponding to the search code is extracted, and stored in the work memory of the control unit 106. Unlike the case of the phonetic in the first embodiment, the search processing performed here does not search one character at a time, but whether or not the entire input numeric string for search is included in the search code of the address book. It is what collates. In the search with furigana, the first character of a line is input by pressing the key, and since all the kana characters belonging to that line are searched, it takes time to search all the input kana characters at the same time. We searched one character at a time. On the other hand, in the search by the search code, a number is input by pressing the key, and a search code in which one number is assigned to each line of the Japanese syllabary is searched, so that all the input numbers are searched simultaneously. be able to. When the search process ends, the counterpart data stored in the work memory of the control unit 6 is sorted in the order of the Japanese syllabary order and output to the display unit 110.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when searching the address book, it is possible to use a search code in which one number is assigned to each line of Japanese syllabary, so that a quick search process can be performed. it can.
<Supplement>
As described above, the mobile phone according to the present invention has been described based on the embodiment. However, such a mobile phone can be partially further modified, and the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. . That is,
(1) In the embodiment, the first character is short-pressed or long-pressed, and the second character is long-pressed, whereby the second character is searched for the search result of the first character. However, it need not be limited to this. By pressing and holding the third and subsequent characters, the search for the first and second characters may be performed in order for the third and subsequent characters. Further, any of the third and subsequent characters may be searched for the search result of the first character.
(2) In the embodiment, it has been described that numbers, kana characters, and alphabets are assigned to the numeric keys, but the present invention is not limited to this. Other characters such as Chinese characters, Korean characters, Russian characters may be used.
(3) In the embodiment, the first character and the second character of the furigana registered in the address book are searched by shifting to the address book search mode by long-pressing the numeric key. There is no need to be limited. In addition to the numeric key, a key for shifting to the address book search mode is provided on the mobile phone, and after pressing the key to shift to the address book search mode, pressing the numeric key causes the first character to be entered. And a search for the second character may be performed.
(4) In the embodiment, the furigana and hiragana registered in the address book are described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be described in katakana, alphabet, etc. This may be referred to in the case of.

  The mobile phone according to the present invention is useful for a mobile phone having an address book because the user can perform an address book search without taking time and effort.

It is a figure which shows the internal structure of the mobile telephone which concerns on this invention. It is a front view of a mobile phone. It is an example of the address book with which a mobile telephone is provided. It is a figure which shows the content displayed when the number key dk1 is pressed down. It is a figure which shows the content displayed when the number key dk2 is pressed down. It is a figure which shows that the result of having searched the address book was displayed when predetermined time passed since the number key dk2 was pressed. It is a figure which shows the flow about the address book search process performed by long-pressing after the 2nd character. It is a figure which shows the flow of the address book search process in 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the internal structure of the mobile telephone in 3rd Embodiment. It is an example of the address book with which the mobile telephone in 3rd Embodiment is provided.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Antenna 2 RF part 3 BB part 4 Operation part 5 Memory 6 Control part 7 Long press detection part 8 Mode transfer part 9 Search part 10 Display part 21 Number key 22 Direction key 101 Antenna 102 RF part 103 BB part 104 Operation part 105 Memory 106 Control unit 107 Long press detection unit 108 Mode transition unit 109 Search unit 110 Display unit 111 Registration unit

Claims (4)

A mobile phone that performs an address book search based on a user operation,
Storage means for storing an address book having a plurality of combinations of communication destination information and names;
Accepting means for accepting key presses;
In an operation mode in which a telephone number can be input and a call can be made to the telephone number by pressing a key, when the continuation time of the n-th key pressing (n is 2 or more) received by the receiving means is a predetermined time or longer, Switching from the operation mode to the address book search mode, and extracting means for extracting a name from the address book based on a plurality of key presses up to the nth;
Readout means for reading out a combination of the extracted name and communication destination information corresponding to the name from the address book,
Each key is assigned a set of characters,
The key pressing order received by the receiving means corresponds to the character order of the names in the address book,
The extracting means extracts a name in which any of a set of characters assigned to the key in all of the plurality of keys matches a character in a corresponding character order from the names in the address book. Mobile phone. A set of characters consists of a predetermined number of characters or less,
The mobile phone according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined number is based on a value obtained by dividing the total number of characters that can be input by the total number of keys in the mobile phone. The mobile phone according to claim 2, wherein the character set is a character set belonging to a line of Japanese syllabary. The address book stores a search code corresponding to the kana reading of each name of the communication destination information,
4. The mobile phone according to claim 3, wherein the search code is a kana reading of the name of the communication destination information expressed by a combination of identification numbers of 50-sound lines.

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