Telecommunications – Transmitter and receiver at same station – Radiotelephone equipment detail
Reexamination Certificate
1998-11-18
2001-04-24
Vo, Nguyen T. (Department: 2682)
Telecommunications
Transmitter and receiver at same station
Radiotelephone equipment detail
C455S566000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06223058
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a communication terminal apparatus and a control method thereof, and more particularly, to the communication terminal apparatus having a selection operation unit and the control method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Communication terminal apparatuses such as portable telephones that particularly require portability are commonly used these days. In such communication terminal apparatuses, a single input key has a single function assigned thereto. That is, separate keys such as dial key, communication start key, communication end key, and redial key are assigned independently.
There are some communication terminal apparatuses in which a plurality of functions are assigned to a single input key. However, these functions are not selected by a user but automatically selected according to the state of the communication terminal apparatus. For example, a single input key is used for different operations according to operation state or operation mode of the communication terminal apparatus such as busy or waiting state.
However, if a single function is fixedly assigned to a single input key as described above, the number of input keys inevitably increases member of with increasing functions of communication terminal apparatus. In communication terminal apparatus using a single input key for different functions according to the operation state or the operation mode thereof, the number of input keys is not effectively reduced because functions to be assigned are limited. For example, only a set of functions used only during transmission or a set of functions used only during waiting state can be used for such duplicate assignment.
Further, in a portable communication terminal apparatus such as portable telephone that must have a small size, an increase in the member of input keys results in an increase in the size of the apparatus, and thus there occurs a problem of degraded portability.
Further, the increase in the member of input keys make it more difficult to select an input key to be operated, which gives an impression that the equipment cannot be operated easily. In addition, there occurs the problem that the user often presses incorrect keys.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a communication terminal apparatus which resolves the above-mentioned problem.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a control method of communication terminal apparatus which resolves the above-mentioned problem.
According to the present invention, there is provided a communication terminal apparatus including a selection operation unit and a operation input unit. The selection operation unit selects one mode from a plurality of mode of the communication terminal apparatus. The operation input unit changes its function based on the mode selected by the selection operation unit.
According to the present invention, there is provided a communication terminal apparatus including a main body, the selection operation unit, the operation input unit, and a display unit. The main body has a speaker and a microphone. The selection operation unit is provided in the main body to select one mode from a plurality of mode of the communication terminal apparatus. The operation input unit is provided in the main body to change its function based on the mode selected by the selection operation unit. The display unit is provided in the main body to display information which are required for at least the selection operation and/or the input operation by selection operation unit and/or operation input unit respectively.
According to the present invention, there is provided a communication terminal apparatus including the main body, the selection operation unit, the operation input unit, the display unit, and a controller. The main body has the speaker and the microphone. The selection operation unit is provided in the main body to select one mode from a plurality of mode of the communication terminal apparatus. The operation input unit is provided in the main body to change its function based on the mode selected by the selection operation unit. The display unit is provided in the main body to display information which is required for at least selection operation and/or input operation by the selection operation unit and/or the operation input unit respectively. The controller sets the mode selected based on the input from the selection operation unit, and switches function of the operation input unit based on the input from the selection operation unit. Also, the controller controls the display operation of the display unit based on the input from the selection operation unit and/or the operation input unit.
According to the present invention, there is provided a control method for the communication terminal apparatus having the selection operation unit for selecting one mode from a plurality of mode; the operation input unit for changing function based on the mode selected by the selection operation unit; the display unit for displaying information which is required for at least selection operation and/or input operation by the selection operation unit and/or the operation input unit respectively; and a memory for storing a plurality of data of communicates including the telephone numbers and the names of the communicatees input by the operation input unit. The control method selectively displays a first display state for displaying the communicatee assigned to the operation input unit based on the data stored in the memory, and a second display state for displaying the data stored in the memory in alphabetical order of the communicates.
According to the present invention, there provides the operation input unit which can change function by operation from the selection operation unit, so that many functions can be selectively switched without increasing the number of keys required for input. Therefore, smaller communication terminal apparatus can be realized.
The nature, principle and utility of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like parts are designated by like reference numerals or characters.
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Ajiro Atsushi
Kobayashi Tetsuo
Kunihiro Takushi
Odaka Kentaro
Sudo Fukuharu
Maioli Jay H.
Sony Corporation
Vo Nguyen T.
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