WO2008141479A1

WO2008141479A1 - Methods and apparatuses for providing hierarchical call history information in handheld communications devices

Info

Publication number: WO2008141479A1
Application number: PCT/CN2007/001668
Authority: WO
Inventors: Wei-Qiu Li; Yin-Hu Chen
Original assignee: Motorola Inc
Current assignee: Motorola Solutions Inc
Priority date: 2007-05-22
Filing date: 2007-05-22
Publication date: 2008-11-27
Anticipated expiration: 2009-11-22

Abstract

Methods and apparatuses provide a handheld device with functionality for implementing a hierarchical recent call history log that is displayed on the handheld device to provide the user with varying levels of information about recent calls. The level of information provided for a given call listed in the log depends on one or more characteristics associated with the call, including but are not limited to, the number of calls from the same caller that have been detected by the handheld device.

Description

METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR PROVIDING HIERARCHICAL CALL HISTORY INFORMATION IN HANDHELD COMMUNICATIONS DEVICES

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The invention relates to handheld communications devices, and more particularly, to handheld communications devices that display call history information to the user.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Many mobile handheld communications devices include display devices that display a variety of different types of information to the user. The information is typically displayed in alphanumeric and/or iconic form. One useful type of information displayed to the user in many mobile telephones and personal data assistants (PDAs) is recent call history. Recent call history information is intended to allow the user to view calls that were made by the user, calls that were made by others to the user that were missed by the user, and calls that were made by others to the user that were received (i.e., taken) by the user.

[0003] In general, recent call history is typically displayed in the form of a log that lists the caller's telephone number and/or name, as well as the date and/or time of the call. Because of limitations on the size of the display device, the call history log typically displays information associated with only the most recent calls (e.g., the last twenty calls). The calls are normally listed in the order in which they occurred in time, with the most recent call being at the top of the listing and the oldest call being at the bottom of the list. Because all of the recent calls listed may not be viewable simultaneously on the display device, a mechanism is often provided to allow the user to scroll down the list from top to bottom, and vice versa. [0004] FIG. 1 illustrates a front view of a known handheld device 2 having a display device 3 for displaying information to the user, and a plurality of keys 4 to allow the user to enter input to the device 2. The display device 3 is shown as displaying a recent call history log that includes the ten most recent calls received by the handheld device 2. The names that are displayed, "Mom", "Dad" and "Sweetheart", correspond to names that have been assigned to the user's mother, father and wife, respectively, and stored in non-volatile memory (not shown) in the handheld device 2. Therefore, when the handheld device 2 detects a call from one of these callers, the call log lists the name assigned by the user to this caller rather than the telephone number associated with the caller. The times and dates of the calls are also listed next to the telephone numbers or caller names. [0005] The calls are listed sequentially in time in the order received by the handheld device 2 with the oldest call at the bottom of the display device 3 and the most recent call at the top of the display device 3. Eight of the ten calls listed were only received by the handheld device 2 once during the time frame represented by the log. Two of the ten calls listed, namely a call from "843-555-1213" and a call from "Sweetheart", were received twice during the time frame represented by the log. Thus, there are two entries for each of these calls shown in the log. [0006] One disadvantage of listing the calls in the manner shown in FIG. 1 is that the same level of information is listed for each call, regardless of whether multiple calls were received from the same caller. One consequence of this is that two entries in the ten-entry display are consumed by each of the calls from "843-555-1213" and "Sweetheart", as opposed to a single entry for each of these calls that indicates the number of missed calls from each of these callers. This is inefficient in terms of utilizing the viewable space available in the display device 3. Another consequence of providing the same level of information for each call is that the user is not informed of a call from one of the listed caller that preceded the oldest listed call. For example, while a user can see that two calls have been missed from each of the callers associated with "843-555-1213" and "Sweetheart", if a missed call that preceded the oldest call listed in the log was from "Mom", the information displayed does not inform the user of this missed call due to size limitations on the viewable area of the display device 3.

[0007] Some handheld devices allow the user to obtain more information about each caller by making a "view history" selection that selects a particular caller to view the history associated with that particular caller. For example, if the user were to select the most recent entry for "Mom", the display device 3 might display the call log associated with "Mom" that has the appearance shown in FIG. 2. The five most recent calls from "Mom" are shown, but the user can scroll through all 59 calls from "Mom" by using an appropriate scroll device, such as a scroll wheel or page down key. This function does not, however, provide a user with a single view of call histories associated with different callers to allow the user to make a relative comparison of recent calls from different callers.

[0008] Although the "view history" functionality provided by some handheld devices allows a user to obtain more information than what is in the recent call history log shown in FIG. 1, "drilling down" to this level of information requires that the user perform an additional step of making the "view history" selection. While this is useful, it would be desirable to provide a recent call history log that provides more information than that provided by a call log of the type shown in FIG. 1 to enable the user to see additional useful information without having to make the "view history" selection. In general, it would be desirable to provide a recent call history log that provides varying levels of information to the user based on one or more characteristics of a caller.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0009] The invention provides methods and apparatuses for generating a recent call history log in a handheld device. In accordance with an embodiment, the apparatus comprises processing circuitry, a memory device and a display device. The processing circuitry is configured to generate a recent call history log. The recent call history log includes at least a listing of one or more caller identifiers, each of which identifies a call that has been placed to the handheld device by a caller associated with the listed caller identifier. No caller identifier is listed more than once in the recent call history log. The recent call history log further includes an indicator in association with a caller identifier that provides an indication that multiple calls have been placed by a caller associated with a caller identifier. The memory device is configured to store information associated with calls placed to the handheld device by callers. The processing circuitry is configured to search the memory device and retrieve information needed to generate the recent call history log. The display device is configured to display the recent call history log so that the recent call history log is viewable by a user. [0010] The method in accordance with an embodiment comprises: storing information associated with calls placed to the handheld device by callers in the memory device; searching the memory device and retrieving information needed to generate a recent call history log; and displaying the recent call history log with at least one indicator of multiple calls from the same caller on a display device of the handheld device so that the recent call history log is viewable by a user.

[0011] These and other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description, drawings and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] FIG. 1 illustrates a front view of a known handheld device having a display device for displaying information to the user, and a plurality of keys to allow the user to enter input to the device.

[0013] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of detailed call history displayed that might be displayed on the display device shown in FIG. 1 if the user were to select the most recent entry for "Mom" from the recent call history listing shown in FIG. 1. [0014] FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a recent call history log in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the invention displayed on a display device of a handheld device.

[0015] FIG. 4 illustrates an example of an expanded listing displayed on the display device 20 shown in FIG. 3 when the user selects the "+" symbol next to the telephone number "843-555-1213" shown in the recent call history log shown in FIG. 3.

[0016] FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart that represents a method in accordance with an exemplary embodiment performed by processing circuitry (not shown) of the handheld device shown in FIG. 3.

[0017] FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of the apparatus of the handheld device in accordance with an embodiment comprising components for performing the processes described above with reference to FIG. 5 to generate the logs described above with reference to FIGs. 3 and 4. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENT [0018] The invention provides methods and apparatuses for providing a handheld device with functionality for implementing a hierarchical recent call history log that is displayed on the handheld device to provide the user with varying levels of information about recent calls. The level of information provided for a given call listed in the log depends on one or more characteristics associated with the call. The characteristics include, but are not limited to, the number of calls from the same caller that have been detected by the handheld device.

[0019] FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a recent call history log in accordance with an exemplary embodiment displayed on a display device 20 of a handheld device 10. For this example, a portion of the call history log shown in FIG. 1 is duplicated in FIG. 3 to demonstrate a fundamental difference between the configuration of the known recent call history log and the call history log of the invention. It is assumed for this example that the recent call history log of the invention lists only the ten most recent calls. The invention is not limited with respect to the number of calls that are listed in the recent call history log, or with respect to the types of information that are included in the log.

[0020] In accordance with the preferred embodiment, the recent call history log includes only one listing of each recent caller even if multiple calls were recently received from the same caller. Thus, although each of the callers associated with "SWEETHEART" and "843-555-1213" called twice, they are only listed once in the call log displayed on the display device 20. Additionally, the call log includes an indicator 40 that is located next to the caller identifier (i.e., the phone number or name) associated with the callers who recently called multiple times to indicate to the user that multiples calls were detected from these callers. Thus, the recent call history log provides this additional information without showing multiple listings for these calls. This feature allows the user to quickly determine, for example, from whom multiple calls were detected and missed by the user. This feature also allows a greater number of calls to be shown in the recent call history log due to the fact that multiple calls from the same caller are shown only once in the call log. To demonstrate this, two additional calls are included in the log shown in FIG. 3 that were not contained in the log shown in FIG. 1, namely, calls from the telephone numbers "843-555-5253" and "843-555-6263". Thus, more calls are capable of being listed in the log without consuming more area on the display device 20.

[0021] FIG. 4 illustrates an example of an expanded listing displayed on the display device 20 when the user selects the "+" symbol next to the telephone number "843-555-1213" shown in the recent call history log shown in FIG. 3. When the user selects the "+" symbol beside this telephone number, processing circuitry (not shown) of the handheld device 10 receives this input and causes calls from this caller to be listed in an expanded call log as shown in FIG. 4. For this example, it is assumed that the expanded call log shows the three most recent calls from this caller that were missed by the user. However, the expanded call log could show a different number of missed calls from this person (e.g., all missed calls from this person). To the extent that area is still available on the display device 20 for displaying the other information listed in the call log shown in FIG. 3, that information is also listed in the expanded call log shown in FIG. 4.

[0022] In addition, a "-" symbol 50 is displayed beside the caller identifier associated with the expanded listing as an indicator that the call log associated with this caller has been expanded. If the user selects the "-" symbol, processing circuitry (not shown) of the handheld device 10 receives this input and causes the call log shown in FIG. 3 to be displayed. In essence, selecting the "+" symbol indicator 40 beside a caller identifier listed in the call log shown in FIG. 3 causes the log to be expanded to show additional information associated with that caller in the log shown in FIG. 4. Selecting the "-" symbol 50 beside a caller identifier in the expanded call log shown in FIG. 4 causes the call log to be compressed into the original form shown in FIG. 3.

[0023] Although the examples described above with reference to FIGs. 3 and 4 are directed to listing information associated with missed calls, the invention also applies to all other types of call statuses, such as, for example, answered calls, received calls, incoming calls, outgoing calls, etc.

[0024] FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart that represents a method in accordance with an exemplary embodiment performed by processing circuitry (not shown) of the handheld device 10 shown in FIG. 3. The processing circuitry determines whether an incoming or outgoing call has been detected, as indicated by block 61. If not, the process ends. If so, the process proceeds to block 63 at which a temporary recent call entry is created and stored in a memory device (not shown) inside of the handheld device. The process then enters a loop during which a determination is made one or more times as to whether the call has ended, as indicated by block 65. If the call has ended, the temporary recent call entry created at block 63 is updated (e.g., with call duration time and end time of call) and the updated entry is re-saved in the memory device, as indicated by block 67. Thus, for each outgoing or incoming call, a temporary recent call entry is created, updated and stored in memory. [0025] After the temporary recent call entry has been updated and stored in memory, the processing circuitry performs a search to locate and retrieve a target recent call history log associated with the temporary recent call entry from memory, as indicated by block 69. For example, if the call was an incoming call that was missed, the processing circuitry will search for the recent call history log associated with incoming missed calls, which will have an appearance similar to that shown in FIG. 3. Assuming a corresponding log exists, the processing circuitry will analyze the log to determine whether the temporary recent call entry matches an entry already contained in the log, as indicated by block 71. If a match exists, the information associated with the temporary recent call entry is added to the log in association with the matching entry that is already in the log, as indicated by block 73. If a match does not exist, a new recent call entry is added to the log, as indicated by block 75. As an optional feature, the recent call entries may be re-sorted in the target list based on one or more user preferences, as indicated by block 77. For example, the user may want to see the largest number of missed calls from the same caller displayed at the top of the list, or vice versa.

[0026] FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of the apparatus 100 of the handheld device in accordance with an embodiment comprising components for performing the processes described above with reference to FIG. 5 to generate the logs described above with reference to FIGs. 3 and 4. Processing circuitry 80 is configured with hardware and/or software or firmware to perform these tasks. Computer instructions and/or other various types of data (e.g., recent call history logs, temporary recent call entries, new recent call entries, user settings, etc.) needed for performing these tasks are stored in memory device 90. The processing circuitry 80 receives input (e.g., user selections of the "+" and "-" symbols, key strokes, stylus entries, etc.) from one or more user input devices 110. The processing circuitry 80 is configured to perform the tasks described above when certain user selections are made. The processing circuitry 80 causes the recent call history logs and expanded recent call history logs to be displayed on the display device 120 based on the received user input. [0027] With respect to tasks that are performed by the processing circuitry 80 in software, the corresponding computer instructions will be stored in memory device 90 or in some other computer-readable medium. The computer-readable medium used for this purpose may be any type of memory devices such as, for example, random access memory (RAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), flash memory, read only memory (ROM) compact disk ROM (CD-ROM), digital video disks (DVDs), magnetic disks, magnetic tapes, etc. The invention also encompasses electrical signals modulated on wired and wireless carriers (e.g., electrical conductors, wireless carrier waves, etc.) in packets and in non-packet formats. The processing circuitry 90 may be any type of computational device, including, for example, a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a programmable gate array, a programmable logic array, one or more state machines, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a system on a chip (SOC), etc. [0028] It should be noted that the inventions have been described with reference to a few illustrative embodiments for the purposes of demonstrating the principles and concepts of the inventions. The inventions, however, are not limited to these illustrative embodiments, as will be understood by persons skilled in the art. Many modifications can be made to the embodiments described herein and all such modifications are within the scope of the invention. For example, while the "+" symbol is used in the call log shown in FIG. 3 as the indicator to indicate that a caller has called multiple times, other symbols could be used for this purpose. The "+" symbol could be replaced with a number symbol, for example, to indicate the number of times that a caller has called (e.g., a "1" beside calls from callers who have only called once, a "2" beside callers who have called twice, etc.). Also, the absence, as opposed to the presence, of a symbol or icon beside a caller identifier may also function as an indicator for conveying this type of information. For example, calls from multiple callers might have nothing beside them in the log, whereas calls from callers who have only called once might have a "1" beside them in the log. Thus, in this case, the absence of a symbol or icon beside a caller identifier functions as an indicator that informs the user that multiple calls from that caller have been detected by the handheld device.

What is claimed is:

Claims

1. An apparatus for generating a recent call history log in a handheld device, the apparatus comprising: processing circuitry configured to generate a recent call history log, the recent call history log including at least a listing of one or more caller identifiers, each caller identifier identifying a call that has been placed to the handheld device by a caller associated with the listed caller identifier, and wherein no caller identifier is listed more than once in the recent call history log, and wherein the recent call history log further includes an indicator in association with a caller identifier, wherein the indicator provides an indication that multiple calls have been placed by a caller associated with a caller identifier; a memory device in communication with the processing circuitry, the memory device being configured to store information associated with calls placed to the handheld device by callers, the processing circuitry being configured to search the memory device and to retrieve information needed to generate the recent call history log; and a display device in communication with the processing circuitry, the display device being configured to display the recent call history log so that the recent call history log is viewable by a user.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the recent call history log further includes information regarding whether a listed caller identifier associated with a call that was placed to the handheld device was missed by the handheld device.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the recent call history log further includes information regarding whether a listed caller identifier associated with a call that was placed to the handheld device was answered or received by the handheld device.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the recent call history log further includes information regarding whether a listed caller identifier associated with a call that was placed to the handheld device was returned by the handheld device.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the indicator is a "+" symbol that indicates that a listing associated with the corresponding caller identifier is expandable.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to generate an expanded call history log for a caller identifier if a user of the handheld device selects the indicator associated with the caller identifier, the processing circuitry causing the expanded call history log to be displayed on the display device, the displayed expanded call history log listing multiple calls that were placed to the handheld device by a caller associated with the caller identifier, the expanded call history log including an indicator in association with the caller identifier associated with the expanded call history log.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to cause the displayed expanded call history log to be removed from the display device and the recent call history log to be re-displayed on the display device if a user of the handheld device selects the indicator associated with the caller identifier in the expanded call history log.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the indicator included in the expanded call history log is a "-" symbol that indicates that the expanded call history log is collapsible into the recent call history log.

9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the indicator included in the expanded call history log is a "+" symbol that indicates that a listing associated with the corresponding caller identifier is expandable.

10. A method for generating a recent call history log in a handheld device, the method comprising: in a memory device, storing information associated with calls placed to the handheld device by callers; in processing circuitry of the handheld device, searching the memory device and retrieving information needed to generate a recent call history log, the recent call history log including at least a listing of one or more caller identifiers, each caller identifier identifying a call that has been placed to the handheld device by a caller associated with the listed caller identifier, and wherein no caller identifier is listed more than once in the recent call history log, and wherein the recent call history log further includes an indicator in association with a caller identifier, wherein the indicator provides an indication that multiple calls have been placed by a caller associated with a caller identifier; and in a display device of the handheld device, displaying the recent call history log so that the recent call history log is viewable by a user.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the recent call history log further includes information regarding whether a listed caller identifier associated with a call that was placed to the handheld device was missed by the handheld device.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the recent call history log further includes information regarding whether a listed caller identifier associated with a call that was placed to the handheld device was answered or received by the handheld device.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the recent call history log further includes information regarding whether a listed caller identifier associated with a call that was placed to the handheld device was returned by the handheld device.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the indicator is a "+" symbol that indicates that a listing associated with the corresponding caller identifier is expandable.

15. The method of claim 10, further comprising: in the processing circuitry, detecting if a user of the handheld device selects the indicator associated with the caller identifier; if the processing circuitry detects that the user of the handheld device has selected the indicator associated with the caller identifier, generating an expanded call history log associated with the caller identifier; and displaying the expanded call history log on the display device, the displayed expanded call history log listing multiple calls that were placed to the handheld device by a caller associated with the caller identifier, the expanded call history log including an indicator in association with the caller identifier associated with the expanded call history log.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising: in the processing circuitry, detecting if the user of the handheld device selects the indicator associated with the expanded call history log; and if the processing circuitry detects that the user of the handheld device has selected the indicator associated with the expanded call history log, causing the displayed expanded call history log to be removed from the display device and causing the recent call history log to be re-displayed on the display device.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the indicator included in the expanded call history log is a "-" symbol that indicates that the expanded call history log is collapsible into the recent call history log.

18. A computer program for generating and displaying call history information on a display device of a handheld communications device, the program comprising computer instructions, the instructions being stored on a computer- readable medium, the program comprising: instructions for storing information associated with calls placed to the handheld device by callers; instructions for searching the memory device and retrieving information needed to generate a recent call history log; instructions for generating a recent call history log based at least partially on the information retrieved from the memory device, the recent call history log including at least a listing of one or more caller identifiers, each caller identifier identifying a call that has been placed to the handheld device by a caller associated with the listed caller identifier, and wherein no caller identifier is listed more than once in the recent call history log, and wherein the recent call history log further includes an indicator in association with a caller identifier, wherein the indicator provides an indication that multiple calls have been placed by a caller associated with a caller identifier; and instructions for displaying the recent call history log so that the recent call history log is viewable by a user.

19. The program of claim 18, further comprising: instructions for detecting if a user of the handheld device selects the indicator associated with the caller identifier; instructions for generating an expanded call history log associated with the caller identifier if it is detected that the user of the handheld device has selected the indicator associated with the caller identifier; and instructions for displaying the expanded call history log on the display device, the displayed expanded call history log listing multiple calls that were placed to the handheld device by a caller associated with the caller identifier, the expanded call history log including an indicator in association with the caller identifier associated with the expanded call history log.

20. The program of claim 18, further comprising: instructions for detecting if the user of the handheld device selects the indicator associated with the expanded call history log; and instructions for causing the displayed expanded call history log to be removed from the display device and causing the recent call history log to be re-displayed on the display device if it is detected that the user of the handheld device has selected the indicator associated with the expanded call history log,.