METHOD AND DEVICE FOR CREATION OF INTEGRATED USER INTERFACE

• US 20110041078A1
• Filed: 08/02/2010
• Published: 02/17/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 07/31/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: PARK, Kyung Mo, Hwang, Seo Young, Song, Jae Yeon
• Granted Patent: US 9,658,864 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/746
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces

Abstract

A method and device for creating an integrated User Interface (UI) by combining individual application UIs. The device receives application UIs from individual UI providing devices, combines the application UIs into the integrated UI, and displays the integrated UI. When an application UI is selected from the integrated UI, the device sends a function invocation signal to a corresponding device in order to perform the particular function corresponding to the selected application UI.

Claims

1. A method for creating an integrated User Interface (UI) from application UIs for performing particular functions, the method comprising:

receiving a first application UI from a first individual UI providing device;

receiving a second application UI from a second individual UI providing device;

combining the first and second application UIs into the integrated UI; and

displaying the integrated UI.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the combining of the first and second application UIs comprises:

retrieving characteristic information from a plurality of application UIs, the characteristic information including at least one of a graphic object, information about a mapped application, and an identification of an application UI;

selecting connectable application UIs from among the plurality of application UIs by comparing the retrieved characteristic information with a predefined connectivity relation list; and

creating the integrated UI from the selected connectable application UIs.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

selecting at least one of the first and second application UIs included in the integrated UI; and

sending a function invocation signal to one of the first and second individual UI providing devices, in order to perform a particular function corresponding to the selected application UI.

4. A device for creating an integrated User Interface (UI), the device comprising:

a communication unit that receives a first application UI for performing a first function from a first individual UI providing device and second application UI for performing a second function from a second individual UI providing device;

a control unit that combines the first and second application UIs into the integrated UI; and

a display unit that displays the integrated UI.

5. The device of claim 4, wherein the control unit retrieves characteristic information from a plurality of application UIs, the characteristic information including at least one of a graphic object, information about mapped applications, and an identification of the application UIs, to select connectable application UIs from among the plurality of application UIs, by comparing the retrieved characteristic information with a predefined connectivity relation list, and creates the integrated UI from the selected connectable application UIs.

6. The device of claim 4, wherein the control unit sends a function invocation signal to one of the first and second individual UI providing devices, in order to perform one of the first and second functions, corresponding to a selection of one of the first and second application UIs from the integrated UI.