Mobile telephone capable of automatically rebuilding menu tree and method for controlling the same

• US 6,263,217 B1
• Filed: 12/30/1998
• Issued: 07/17/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 12/31/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Park, Hong-Ju
• Primary Examiner(s): Maung, Nay
• Assistant Examiner(s): Trinh, Sonny
• Application Number:
  US09/223,162
• Time in Patent Office: 930 Days
• Field of Search: 455/550, 455/566, 455/575, 455/90, 455/158.4, 379/88.11, 379/88.14, 379/387, 379/122, 345/352, 345/353, 345/146
• US Class Current: 455/566
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/724 User interfaces specially adapted for cordless or mobile telephones
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72472 wherein the items are sorted according to specific criteria, e.g. frequency of use

Abstract

A mobile telephone capable of automatically rebuilding a menu tree, including a display unit and a scroll key for scrolling the menu tree. The mobile telephone includes a nonvolatile memory for storing status information about respective menus in the menu tree, and a controller for setting frequently used menus as representative menus based on the status information stored in the nonvolatile memory, and displaying the frequently used menus on the display unit in preference to other menus. The nonvolatile memory has a counter field for storing usage information for the respective menus; a child menu number field for storing information as to how many child menus are included in the respective menus; and child menu ID number fields for storing IDs of the child menus.

Claims

1. A method for automatically rebuilding a menu tree in a mobile telephone including a display unit, a select key, a scroll key, and a nonvolatile memory that stores menu usage information, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) searching the nonvolatile memory for a child menu having a highest usage count value out of plural child menus, wherein said plural child menus having a common present parent menu, and setting the searched child menu with the highest count value to a new present parent menu;

(b) displaying the set parent menu on the display unit;

(c) upon detection of a select key input, accessing the nonvolatile memory to increase a count value for the set parent menu;

(d) upon detection of a specific scroll key input, searching the nonvolatile memory for one of plural sibling menus of the set parent menu, which has a second highest usage count value, and setting the searched sibling menu as the present parent menu, and repeating step (b);

(e) upon detection of a second specific scroll key input, searching the nonvolatile memory for one of plural sibling menus of the present parent menu, which has a count value higher than that of the set parent menu, setting the searched sibling menu as the present parent menu and repeating step (b); and

(f) setting a menu having the lowest count value to the present parent menu when the nonvolatile memory does not have a corresponding menu.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein a menu having the highest count value is set to the present parent menu when the nonvolatile memory does not have a corresponding menu in said step (d).