APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING TERMINAL

• US 20120113030A1
• Filed: 03/26/2010
• Published: 05/10/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 03/26/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University (Stanford Management Co.)
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University (Stanford Management Co.)
• Inventors: Nass, Clifford, Park, Joon Ah, Park, Sung Ho, Murray, Katherine, Sukumaran, Abhay, Bang, Won-Chul
• Granted Patent: US 9,635,170 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04886 by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus
• 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

An apparatus and method for controlling a terminal is provided. A terminal control apparatus may set a virtual display space in an outer circumferential portion of the terminal and map at least one file to the virtual display space. Through this, a display region of the terminal may be expanded to an outer circumferential region of the terminal.

Claims

1. An apparatus for controlling a terminal with a touch display, the apparatus comprising:

a space setting unit to set a virtual display space corresponding to an outer circumferential portion of the touch display and to set a boundary space in the touch display to be adjacent to the virtual display space;

a mapping unit to map at least one file among a plurality of files to the virtual display space; and

a control unit to control a file processing operation of the terminal for the at least one mapped file when a touch signal input via the touch display is detected in the boundary space.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein, when the touch signal is consecutively detected in the boundary space, the control unit controls the file processing operation of the terminal.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein, when the touch signal is detected in a direction from the touch display to the virtual display space in the boundary space, the control unit executes the at least one file to control the file processing operation of the terminal.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein, when the touch signal is detected in a direction from the touch display to the virtual display space in the boundary space, the control unit displays file information associated with the at least one file on the touch display to control the file processing operation of the terminal.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein, when the touch signal is detected in a direction from the virtual display space to the touch display in the boundary space, the control unit displays the at least one file on the touch display to control the file processing operation of the terminal.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the mapping unit maps the at least one file to the virtual display space based on at least one of a number of times that each of the files is executed and a point in time when each of the files was most recently executed.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the virtual display space is set on at least one of an upper side surface, a lower side surface, a left side surface, and a right side surface of the touch display.

8. An apparatus for controlling a terminal with a touch display, the apparatus comprising:

a space setting unit to set a virtual display space corresponding to an outer circumferential portion of the touch display and to set a boundary space in the touch display to be adjacent to the virtual display space; and

a mapping unit to map at least one file among a plurality of files to the virtual display space when a first touch signal input via the touch display is detected in a direction from the touch display to the virtual display space in the boundary space.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, further comprising:

a control unit to control the at least one mapped file to not be displayed on the touch display.

10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein, when the first touch signal is consecutively detected in the direction from the touch display to the virtual display space in the boundary space, the mapping unit maps the at least one file to the virtual display space.

11. The apparatus of claim 8, further comprising:

a file selector to select the at least one file based on a second touch signal that is input via the touch display.

12. A method of controlling a terminal with a touch display, the method comprising:

setting a virtual display space corresponding to an outer circumferential portion of the touch display;

setting a boundary space in the touch display to be adjacent to the virtual display space;

mapping at least one file among a plurality of files to the virtual display space; and

controlling a file processing operation of the terminal for the at least one mapped file when a touch signal input via the touch display is detected in the boundary space,

wherein the method is performed using at least one processor.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein, when the touch signal is consecutively detected in the boundary space, the file processing operation of the terminal is controlled.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein, when the touch signal is detected in a direction from the touch display to the virtual display space in the boundary space, the at least one file is executed to control the file processing operation of the terminal.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein, when the touch signal is detected in a direction from the touch display to the virtual display space in the boundary space, file information, associated with the at least one file on the touch display to control the file processing operation of the terminal, is displayed.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein, when the touch signal is detected in a direction from the virtual display space to the touch display in the boundary space, the at least one file to control the file processing operation of the terminal is displayed on the touch display.

20. At least one computer-readable recording medium storing computer readable instructions that control at least one processor to implement the method of claim 12.

17. A method of controlling a terminal with a touch display, the method comprising:

setting a virtual display space corresponding to an outer circumferential portion of the touch display;

setting a boundary space in the touch display to be adjacent to the virtual display space; and

mapping at least one file among a plurality of files to the virtual display space when a first touch signal input via the touch display is detected in a direction from the touch display to the virtual display space in the boundary space,

wherein the method is performed using at least one processor.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

controlling the at least one mapped file to not be displayed on the touch display.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein, when the first touch signal is consecutively detected in the direction from the touch display to the virtual display space in the boundary space, the at least one file is mapped to the virtual display space.

21. At least one computer-readable recording medium storing computer readable instructions that control at least one processor to implement the method of claim 17.