Method and system for presenting a graphical representation of telephone keys on a wireless terminal

• US 7,363,059 B1
• Filed: 01/16/2003
• Issued: 04/22/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 01/16/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sprint Spectrum LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: Sprint Spectrum LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: Lundy, Michael T.
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, THUAN T
• Application Number:
  US10/345,813
• Time in Patent Office: 1,923 Days
• Field of Search: 455/566, 455/403, 455/95, 455/575.1, 455/550.1, 455/90.3, 455/91, 455/414.1, 455/556.2, 455/74, 455/556, 379/355.01, 709/219, 709/224, 709/203, 709/208
• US Class Current: 455/566
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/23 Construction or mounting of dials or of equivalent devices; Means for facilitating the use thereof by improving visibility H04M1/22
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/233 including a pointing device, e.g. roller key, track ball, rocker switch or joystick constructional details of pointing devices per se G06F3/033
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/724 User interfaces specially adapted for cordless or mobile telephones
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72469 for operating the device by selecting functions from two or more displayed items, e.g. menus or icons
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/22 including a touch pad, a touch sensor or a touch detector digitizers for touch screens G06F3/041

Abstract

A wireless terminal may present a graphical representation of telephone keys serially along at least one edge of the display screen. A user may indicate selection of one of the telephone keys. The wireless terminal may detect the selection of the one of the telephone keys and generate a signal corresponding to the one of the telephone keys selected.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

presenting on a display screen of a wireless terminal a graphical representation of telephone keys serially along at least one edge of the display screen, wherein each telephone key is located on the display screen along one of the edges of the display screen, and wherein the graphical representation is selectable by a user;

detecting user-selection of a portion of the graphical representation, the portion of the graphical representation corresponding to a given one of the telephone keys; and

outputting a signal that defines the given one of the telephone keys.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein outputting the signal that defines the given one of the telephone keys comprises outputting a DTMF tone.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein outputting the signal that defines the given one of the telephone keys comprises outputting a data stream.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

presenting on the display screen a numeric representation of the given one of the telephone keys.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein presenting the graphical representation of telephone keys comprises presenting the graphical representation of telephone keys concurrently with application-specific information.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting user-selection of a maximize key; and

responsively presenting a graphical representation of a full telephone keypad on the display screen.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the telephone keys comprise dialing keys that represent numeric digits 0 to 9.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the telephone keys comprise function keys selected from the group consisting of mute, flash, and 3-way calling.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein presenting the graphical representation of telephone keys serially along the at least one edge of the display screen of the wireless terminal comprises presenting the function keys in response to a connection with a remote terminal being established.

10. A wireless handheld terminal comprising:

a processor;

a memory;

a display screen defined by at least one edge;

computer instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor (i) to cause presentation on the display screen of a graphical representation of telephone keys serially along the at least one edge of the display screen, wherein each telephone key is located on the display screen along one of the edges of the display screen, and wherein the graphical representation is selectable by a user, (ii) to detect that a portion of the graphical representation has been selected, the portion corresponding to a given one of the telephone keys, and (iii) to output a signal that defines the given one of the telephone keys.

11. The wireless handheld terminal of claim 10, wherein the computer instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor further comprise computer instructions to cause the graphical representation of telephone keys to be presented concurrently with application-specific information.

12. The wireless handheld terminal of claim 10, wherein the telephone keys comprise dialing keys that represent numeric digits 0 to 9.

13. The wireless handheld terminal of claim 10, wherein the signal is a DTMF tone.

14. The wireless handheld terminal of claim 10, wherein the signal is a data stream.

15. The wireless handheld terminal of claim 10, further comprising computer instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to perform the functions of:

detecting that a maximize key has been selected; and

responsively causing a graphical representation of a full telephone keypad to be presented on the display screen.

16. The wireless handheld terminal of claim 10, further comprising computer instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to perform the function of:

causing a numeric representation of the given one of the telephone keys to be presented on the display screen, responsive to detecting that a portion of the graphical representation has been selected.

17. The wireless handheld terminal of claim 10, wherein the telephone keys comprise function keys selected from the group consisting of mute, flash, and 3-way calling.

18. The wireless handheld terminal of claim 10, wherein the computer instructions executable by the processor to cause presentation of the graphical representation of telephone keys serially along the at least one edge of the display screen of the wireless terminal comprises computer instructions executable by the processor to cause presentation of the function keys in response to a connection with a remote terminal being established.

19. A display screen of a wireless terminal comprising:

an edge portion of the display screen for displaying a graphical representation of telephone keys on the display screen, wherein each telephone key is located on the display screen serially along one of the edges of the display screen, and wherein the graphical representation is selectable by a user; and

a display portion of the display screen for displaying content associated with an application running on the wireless terminal prior to the graphical representation of telephone keys being displayed; and

wherein the display screen includes a means for detecting that a portion of the graphical representation has been selected, the portion corresponding to a given one of the telephone keys.