Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02762726 2011-12-23
PORTABLE ELECTRONIC DEVICE INCLUDING TOUCH-SENSITIVE DISPLAY AND
METHOD OF CONTROLLING SAME
FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY
The present disclosure relates to portable electronic devices including touch-
sensitive
displays and the control of such portable electronic devices.
BACKGROUND
Electronic devices, including portable electronic devices, have gained
widespread use
and may provide a variety of functions including, for example, telephonic,
electronic
messaging and other personal information manager (PIM) application functions.
Portable
electronic devices include, for example, several types of mobile stations such
as simple
cellular telephones, smart telephones, wireless personal digital assistants
(PDAs), and laptop
computers with wireless 802.11 or Bluetooth capabilities.
Portable electronic devices such as PDAs or smart telephones are generally
intended
for handheld use and ease of portability. Smaller devices are generally
desirable for
portability. A touch-sensitive display, also known as a touchscreen display,
is particularly
useful on handheld devices, which are small and have limited space for user
input and
output. The information displayed on the touch-sensitive displays may be
modified
depending on the functions and operations being performed.
Improvements in electronic devices with touch-sensitive displays are
desirable.
SUMMARY
In an aspect of the disclosure there is provided a method for displaying a
navigation
indicator on the touch-sensitive display of a portable electronic device, the
method including
detecting a first touch at a first location on a touch-sensitive display,
detecting a second touch
at a second location on the touch-sensitive display, and displaying the
navigation indicator on
the touch-sensitive display in response to detecting the second touch while
first touch contact
is maintained.
In another aspect of the disclosure there is provided a portable electronic
device
including a touch-sensitive display configured to display information and a
processor
connected to the touch-sensitive display. The processor is configured to
detect a first touch
at a first location on the touch-sensitive display, detect a second touch at a
second location
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on the touch-sensitive display, and display a navigation indicator in a
graphical user interface
in response to detection of the second touch while first touch contact is
maintained.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described, by way of example
only, with reference to the attached figures, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of one example of a portable electronic
device in
accordance with the present disclosure;
FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a method of controlling an
electronic
device in accordance with the present disclosure;
FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a portable electronic device receiving a
first touch and
a second touch on the touch-sensitive display thereof in accordance with the
present
disclosure;
FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating another example of a method of controlling
an
electronic device in accordance with the present disclosure;
FIG. 5 to FIG. 7 illustrate examples of a portable electronic device receiving
touches
on the touch-sensitive display thereof in accordance with the present
disclosure; and
FIG. 8 to FIG. 10 illustrate further examples of a portable electronic device
receiving
touches on the touch-sensitive display thereof in accordance with the present
disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The following describes an apparatus for and method of controlling an
electronic
device including detecting a first touch at a first location on a touch-
sensitive display;
detecting a second touch at a second location on the touch-sensitive display;
and displaying
a navigation indicator on the touch-sensitive display in response to detecting
the second
touch while first touch contact is maintained.
For simplicity and clarity of illustration, reference numerals may be repeated
among
the figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements. Numerous details
are set forth
to provide an understanding of the embodiments described herein. The
embodiments may
be practiced without these details. In other instances, well-known methods,
procedures, and
components have not been described in detail to avoid obscuring the
embodiments
described. The description is not to be considered as limited to the scope of
the
embodiments described herein.
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The disclosure generally relates to an electronic device, which is a portable
electronic
device in the embodiments described herein. Examples of portable electronic
devices
include mobile, or handheld, wireless communication devices such as pagers,
cellular
phones, cellular smart-phones, wireless organizers, personal digital
assistants, wirelessly
enabled notebook computers, and so forth. The portable electronic device may
also be a
portable electronic device without wireless communication capabilities, such
as a handheld
electronic game device, digital photograph album, digital camera, or other
device.
A block diagram of an example of a portable electronic device 100 is shown in
FIG. 1.
The portable electronic device 100 includes multiple components, such as a
processor 102
that controls the overall operation of the portable electronic device 100.
Communication
functions, including data and voice communications, are performed through a
communication
subsystem 104. Data received by the portable electronic device 100 is
decompressed and
decrypted by a decoder 106. The communication subsystem 104 receives messages
from
and sends messages to a wireless network 150. The wireless network 150 may be
any type
of wireless network, including, but not limited to, data wireless networks,
voice wireless
networks, and networks that support both voice and data communications. A
power
source 142, such as one or more rechargeable batteries or a port to an
external power
supply, powers the portable electronic device 100.
The processor 102 interacts with other components, such as Random Access
Memory (RAM) 108, memory 110, a display 112 with a touch-sensitive overlay 114
operably
connected to an electronic controller 116 that together comprise a touch-
sensitive
display 118, an auxiliary input/output (I/O) subsystem 124, a data port 126, a
speaker 128, a
microphone 130, short-range communications 132, and other device subsystems
134. The
processor 102 may optionally interact with one or more actuators (not shown)
to provide
tactile feedback and one or more force sensors (not shown) to detect a force
imparted on the
touch-sensitive display 118. Interaction with a graphical user interface is
performed through
the touch-sensitive overlay 114. The processor 102 interacts with the touch-
sensitive
overlay 114 via the electronic controller 116. Information, such as text,
characters, symbols,
images, icons, and other items that may be displayed or rendered on a portable
electronic
device, is displayed on the touch-sensitive display 118 via the processor 102.
The
processor 102 may interact with an orientation sensor such as an accelerometer
136 that
may be utilized to detect direction of gravitational forces or gravity-induced
reaction forces.
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To identify a subscriber for network access, the portable electronic device
100 uses a
Subscriber Identity Module or a Removable User Identity Module (SIM/RUIM) card
138 for
communication with a network, such as the wireless network 150. Alternatively,
user
identification information may be programmed into memory 110.
The portable electronic device 100 includes an operating system 146 and
software
programs or components 148 that are executed by the processor 102 and are
typically stored
in a persistent, updatable store such as the memory 110. Additional
applications or programs
may be loaded onto the portable electronic device 100 through the wireless
network 150, the
auxiliary I/O subsystem 124, the data port 126, the short-range communications
subsystem 132, or any other suitable subsystem 134.
A received signal such as a text message, an e-mail message, or web page
download
is processed by the communication subsystem 104 and input to the processor
102. The
processor 102 processes the received signal for output to the display 112
and/or to the
auxiliary I/O subsystem 124. A subscriber may generate data items, for example
e-mail
messages, which may be transmitted over the wireless network 150 through the
communication subsystem 104. For voice communications, the overall operation
of the
portable electronic device 100 is similar. The speaker 128 outputs audible
information
converted from electrical signals, and the microphone 130 converts audible
information into
electrical signals for processing.
The touch-sensitive display 118 may be any suitable touch-sensitive display,
such as
a capacitive, resistive, infrared, surface acoustic wave (SAW) touch-sensitive
display, strain
gauge, optical imaging, dispersive signal technology, acoustic pulse
recognition, and so forth,
as known in the art. A capacitive touch-sensitive display may include a
capacitive touch-
sensitive overlay 114. The overlay 114 may be an assembly of multiple layers
in a stack
including, for example, a substrate, a ground shield layer, a barrier layer,
one or more
capacitive touch sensor layers separated by a substrate or other barrier, and
a cover. The
capacitive touch sensor layers may be any suitable material, such as patterned
indium tin
oxide (ITO).
One or more touches, also known as touch contacts or touch events, may be
detected by the touch-sensitive display 118. The processor 102 may determine
attributes of
the touch, including a location of a touch. Touch location data may include an
area of contact
or a single point of contact, such as a point at or near a center of the area
of contact. The
location of a detected touch may include x and y components, e.g., horizontal
and vertical
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components, respectively, with respect to one's view of the touch-sensitive
display 118. For
example, the x location component may be determined by a signal generated from
one touch
sensor, and the y location component may be determined by a signal generated
from another
touch sensor. A signal is provided to the controller 116 in response to
detection of a touch. A
touch may be detected from any suitable object, such as a finger, thumb,
appendage, or
other items, for example, a stylus, pen, or other pointer, depending on the
nature of the
touch-sensitive display 118. Multiple simultaneous touches may be detected.
The touch-sensitive display 118 is also configured to detect a gesture. A
gesture,
such as a swipe, is a type of touch, that begins at an origin point and
continues to a finishing
point while touch contact is maintained. A swipe may be long or short in
distance, or
duration, or both distance and duration. Two points of the swipe may be
utilized to determine
a vector that describes a direction of the swipe. The direction may be
referenced with
respect to the touch-sensitive display 118, the orientation of the information
displayed on the
touch-sensitive display 118, or another reference. For the purposes of
providing a reference,
"horizontal" as utilized herein is substantially left-to-right or right-to-
left relative to the
orientation of the displayed information, and "vertical" as utilized herein is
substantially
upward or downward relative to the orientation of the displayed information.
The origin point
and the finishing point of the swipe may be utilized to determine the
magnitude or distance of
the swipe. The duration of the swipe may be determined from the origin point
and finishing
point of the swipe in time. The processor 102 receives data from the
controller 116 to
determine the direction, magnitude, and duration of the swipe. The gesture may
be tracked
and a plurality of sub-vectors determined for each gesture. The final sub-
vector may be
utilized to determine a distance and duration of a final portion of the
gesture. The
processor 102 receives data from the controller 116 to determine the speed of
the swipe
based on the distance and duration of the final portion of the gesture.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a method of controlling a
portable
electronic device 100. The method may be carried out by software executed by,
for example,
the processor 102. Coding of software for carrying out such a method is within
the scope of
a person of ordinary skill in the art given the present description. The
method may contain
additional or fewer processes than shown and described, and may be performed
in a
different order. Computer-readable code executable by, for example, the
processor 102 of
the portable electronic device 100 to perform the method, may be stored in a
computer-
readable medium.
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The method is carried out on a portable electronic device 100 having a touch-
sensitive display 118 that receives touch input. The touch-sensitive display
118 may display
icons that are selectable to launch applications, to navigate through folders
and to modify
device settings, for example. The touch-sensitive display 118 may further
display re-sizable
graphical elements, such as windows for displaying text and/or images
associated with a
software application. The touch-sensitive display 118 does not continuously
display a
navigation indicator, such as a pointer or a cursor, for example.
The method of FIG. 2 is directed to displaying a navigation indicator on the
touch-
sensitive display 118 of the portable electronic device 100 and includes
detecting 200 a first
touch at a first location on a touch-sensitive display 118, detecting 202 a
second touch at a
second location on the touch-sensitive display 118, and displaying 204 a
navigation indicator
on the touch-sensitive display 118 in response to detecting the second touch
while first touch
contact is maintained.
When displayed, the navigation indicator is spaced from the first touch and
the
second touch. Therefore, a view of selectable graphical elements on the touch-
sensitive
display 118 is not blocked by objects touching the touch-sensitive display
118, such as a
user's fingers, for example, at the navigation indicator location. In one
embodiment, the
navigation indicator is displayed between the first touch location and the
second touch
location on the touch-sensitive display 118.
The method of FIG. 2 facilitates fine navigation, which is useful on a touch-
sensitive
display 118 including many different user-selectable graphical elements that
are spaced
close together.
Continued reference is made to FIG. 2 with additional reference to FIG. 3 to
describe
one example of a method for controlling a portable electronic device 100. In
the present
example, a user touches the touch-sensitive display 118 with two fingers, as
shown. The
processor 102 detects 200 a first touch at a first location and detects 202 a
second touch at a
second location. Navigation indicator 300 is then displayed 204 in response to
detection 202
of the second touch while the first touch is maintained. The navigation
indicator 300 is
depicted as an arrow, however, the navigation indicator 300 may be any shape.
Once the navigation indicator 300 is displayed, different methods for moving
the
navigation indicator 300 on the touch-sensitive display 118 and making a
selection are
possible. One example method is shown in FIG. 4. The method may be carried out
by
software executed by, for example, the processor 102. Coding of software for
carrying out
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such a method is within the scope of a person of ordinary skill in the art
given the present
description. The method may contain additional or fewer processes than shown
and
described, and may be performed in a different order. Computer-readable code
executable
by, for example, the processor 102 of the portable electronic device 100 to
perform the
method, may be stored in a computer-readable medium.
When a first touch is detected 400 at a first location on the touch-sensitive
display 118, the processor 102 awaits detection 402 of a second touch. If no
second touch is
detected 402 within a threshold time period following detection 400 of the
first touch, the
processor 102 performs a function that is associated with the first touch 404.
The function
may be any function that is available via touch selection on the touch-
sensitive display 118 of
the portable electronic device 100. The function may include, for example,
launching an
application, opening a folder, activating a window, and minimizing, maximizing
or closing an
active window.
When the second touch is detected 402 within the time period at a second
location on
the touch-sensitive display 118, a navigation indicator 300 is displayed 406
on the touch-
sensitive display 118.
The threshold time period between the first touch and the second touch may be
short
in order to maintain responsiveness of the portable electronic device 100 to
user selection.
The time period may be zero seconds, when the first and second touches are
detected at
substantially the same time, or the time period may be between zero seconds
and 0.25
seconds. Other time periods are possible. In general, the time period is
selected to reduce a
time lag between a single touch and the processor 102 performing the
associated function
while allowing sufficient time for detection of a two-finger touch.
Referring still to FIG. 4, when both the first and second touches end 408, the
processor 102 awaits detection of a third touch on the touch-sensitive display
118. If the first
and second touches continue, the navigation indicator moves 410 in response to
movement
of one or both touches. If the touches remain generally stationary, the
navigation indicator
maintains its position on the touch-sensitive display 118. When one of the
first touch and
second touch ends and the other is maintained, the processor 102 waits for the
other touch
to end. In one embodiment, after waiting for a threshold time period, the
method may revert
to having detected 400 a first touch and continue the method at 402.
When the third touch is detected 412, the processor 102 determines if the
third touch
is located in a touch area that is associated with the navigation indicator
414. If the third
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touch is in the touch area, the processor 102 performs a function that is
associated with the
navigation indicator location 418 and the navigation indicator is no longer
displayed on the
touch-sensitive display 118. If the third touch is not within the touch area,
the navigation
indicator is no longer displayed 416 and the method continues at 400. In one
embodiment, if
the third touch is not detected 412 within a threshold time period, the
navigation indicator is
no longer displayed.
The touch area is associated with the navigation indicator and may be
generally
centered at the navigation indicator. A touch is in the touch area when the
entire contact area
between the object touching the touch-sensitive display 118 and the touch-
sensitive
display 118 is in the touch area or when a portion of the contact area is in
the touch area and
a portion of the contact area is outside of the touch area. The size of the
touch area may be
determined for a particular device by considering the size of the display, the
pixel density and
the target demographic. In one embodiment, the size of the touch area is
customizable by
the user through a device setting option.
The touch area may be a circle, however, other shapes are possible including
oval,
square and triangular, for example. The shape of the touch area may further be
different
depending on where on the touch-sensitive display 118 the navigation indicator
is located.
For example, if the navigation indicator is near an edge of the touch-
sensitive display 118,
the touch area may be semi-circular in shape.
Continued reference is made to FIG. 4 with additional reference to FIGS. 5 to
7 to
describe another example of a method for controlling a portable electronic
device 100. In the
present example, first and second touches are detected 400, 402 by the
processor 102 and
the navigation indicator 300 is displayed 404. Navigation indicator 300 then
moves 410 in
response to movement of the touches, as shown in FIG. 5. Once the navigation
indicator 300 has moved to a desired location, both the first and second
touches end 408
and a third touch is detected 412. If the third touch is located in a touch
area 600, as shown
in FIG. 6, the processor 102 performs a function that is associated with the
navigation
indicator location 418. If the third touch is not located in the touch area
600, as shown in
FIG. 7, the navigation indicator 300 is no longer displayed.
Continued reference is made to FIG. 4 with additional reference to FIGS. 8 to
10 to
describe another example of a method of controlling the portable electronic
device 100. In
this example, a window 800, icons 802, which are user-selectable to launch
applications,
including browser, calendar, e-mail and text messaging applications, a clock
804 and a
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battery level icon 806, are displayed on the touch-sensitive display 118. At
the top right
corner of the window 800, user-selectable window control icons include:
minimize
window 808, maximize window 810 and close window 812. As shown, the window
control
icons are small relative to a typical user's finger size and closely spaced.
First and second touches are detected 400, 402 by the processor 102 and the
navigation indicator 300 is displayed 406 on the touch-sensitive display 118.
Referring also
to FIG. 9, the navigation indicator 300 moves 410 in response to movement of
one or both
touches. In the present example, the navigation indicator 300 moves to a
location where the
navigation indicator 300 overlaps the minimize window icon 808 on the touch-
sensitive
display 118. Once the navigation indicator 300 has been located on an icon or
other
selectable element on the touch-sensitive display 118, both touches end and a
third touch is
detected 412. Referring to FIG. 10, when the third touch is detected within
touch area 600,
the function that is associated with the navigation indicator location is
performed 418. In this
example, the function performed is minimizing the window 800.
In general, fine navigation is useful for targeting small areas on a display,
specific
characters within text or pixels on a display. An advantage of using a
navigation indicator to
facilitate fine navigation is that the objects touching the touch-sensitive
display, such as the
user's fingers, for example, are spaced from the navigation indicator location
during
navigation. Therefore, the user's view of the user-selectable graphical
elements on the
touch-sensitive display is not blocked while the navigation indicator is moved
to a desired
location.
The present disclosure may be embodied in other specific forms without
departing
from its spirit or essential characteristics. The described embodiments are to
be considered
in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the
present disclosure is,
therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing
description. All
changes that come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims
are to be
embraced within their scope.
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