A device and a method of orientating a display therefor

A DEVICE AND A METHOD OF ORIENTATING A DISPLAY THEREFOR

Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a device and a method of orientating a display therefor, and in particular to orientating a display of a device interworking with a second device.

Background of the Invention

In recent times an increasing proliferation of portable devices has occurred. Such devices include Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), Portable game devices, mobile phones, personal stereos etc. It has become commonplace for people to have several communication and computing devices interworking and exchanging information. A specific example is when a PDA is used in conjunction with a mobile phone to provide access to the Internet or provide email access when on the move. In this example the PDA communicates with the mobile phone, which provides a data communication link to the Internet through the cellular communication system associated with the mobile phone.

A common method of interfacing devices is by using an infrared communications port. Most PDA's and mobile phones currently on the market comprise infrared (IR) ports. A property of infrared communication is that the transmitter and receiving units must be facing each other and therefore the relative orientation of the two interworking devices cannot be freely chosen. In most mobile phones and PDA's on the market today, the infrared port is positioned above and facing away from the display of the device.

When an infrared equipped mobile phone is used in conjunction with a PDA, the phone is typically rotated by 180 degrees in order for the IR ports to face each other (depending on the position of the IR port on each device the rotation may be other values). Consequently the user cannot easily read the phone's display and thus important information, such as call status information cannot easily be read whilst a connection is in progress. This results in wasted time or lost data if the user does not notice that a connection has been lost.

Future data-equipped mobile phones will also be capable of synchronous data and voice calls. In the case of an incoming call that occurred whilst the phone was connected to a PDA via it’s IR port, it would be difficult for a user to see the number of the incoming call if the phone were rotated by for example 90 or 180 degrees

Hence there is a need for improving the readability ofthe displays of devices interworking with each other.

Summary ofthe Invention

The invention seeks to provide an improvement in the readability of the displays of devices interworking with each other.

Accordingly there is provided device comprising a display; means for determining the relative location of a second device; a wireless communication port for communicating with the second device; means for orientating the display in response to the relative position of the second device operable to orientate the display to a pre-configured orientation when the wireless communication port is active.

Preferably the device further comprises means for interworking with the second device such as a communications port; and the means for orientating the display is operable to orientate the display in response to the relative position of the second device when the device is in an interworking mode and to orientate the display in a default orientation when the device is in a non-interworking mode.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a method of orientating a display of a device comprising the steps of determining the relative location of a second device; determining if the device is communicating with the second device through a wireless communication port of the device; and orientating the display in response to the relative position of the second device when the wireless communication port is active by orientating the display to a pre-configured orientation when the wireless communication port is active.

The invention thus provides means for orientating the display of a device to align with other devices thereby making the display easily readable even when used with a second device.

Brief Description of the Drawings

An embodiment of the present invention is described below, by way of example only, with reference to the Drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a PDA and a mobile phone in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a PDA interworking with a mobile phone in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a block schematic of a mobile phone in accordance with an embodiment of the invention

Detailed Description of a Preferred Embodiment

FIG. 1 illustrates a PDA 101 and a mobile phone 107 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

The PDA 101 comprises a communication port 103 and a display 105. In the current example the PDA receives user input through a touch sensitive display 105 and is operable to perform a number of functions including web browsing, diary functions, email browsing etc.

The mobile phone 107 comprises all functions required for transmitting and receiving data in cellular communication systems as is well known in the art. It comprises a microphone 109, a keypad 111 and a display 113. It also comprises an IR communication port 115 for communication with external devices such as the PDA 101. In the example given in FIG. 1, the mobile phone and the PDA are used independently. The display orientation of the mobile phone is the default orientation such that it provides an easily readable format for a user using the phone and in particular when using the keypad of the phone.

FIG. 2 illustrates the same PDA 101 interworking with the same mobile phone 107 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. In this interworking mode, the PDA and mobile phone are communicating through their respective IR communication ports 103 and 115. In order for the IR ports to be able to communicate they must be placed facing each other as shown in FIG. 2. In the shown embodiment, the mobile phone 107 has the communication port 115 situated on the side of the mobile phone.

FIG. 3 illustrates a block schematic of the mobile phone 107 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The mobile phone comprises conventional communication circuitry 301 required for operating in a cellular communication network. This circuitry includes receiver, transmitter and control circuitry as is well known in the art.

The communication circuitry 301 is connected to a text (and graphics) generator 303 that generates the text and graphics which is to be displayed to the user based on the status and communication of the mobile phone. The text generator 303 is connected to the display controller 305 which is operable to control the display such that this information is displayed.

The mobile phone 107 further comprises a processor 307 for determining the relative position of a second device external to the mobile phone, such as the PDA 101 of FIG. 1 and 2. The processor 307 is connected to the communications port 115 and in its simplest form the processor determines the relative position of the second device as facing the side of the mobile phone containing the communication port 115 when the communication port 115 is active.

The processor 307 for determining the relative position of the second device is connected to a controller 309 for orientating the display 113 of the mobile phone 107. This controller 309 is connected to the display controller 305 which controls the display.

The orientation of the display can be modified in any suitable way without detracting from the current invention.

In accordance with one embodiment, the display is mounted in a mechanical configuration which allows it to be physically rotated relative to the mobile phone. However, in the preferred embodiment the display is fixedly mounted and comprises a number of pixels arranged in rows and columns. The display controller in this embodiment comprises a memory matrix similarly arranged in rows and columns and having one memory location for each of the pixels of the display. The content of each memory location indicates whether the corresponding pixel is on or off. In this embodiment the controller 309 for orientating the display is operable to change the memory matrix by interchanging the rows with the columns. In addition, it is operable to reverse the order of the locations within the columns or rows. In this way the controller 309 for orientating the display is capable of mirroring the display image around its central axes as well as rotating the display by 90 degrees. Hence, the construction enables the display to be orientated in discrete steps of 90 degrees.

When the mobile phone 107 is used with the PDA 101, it will be placed with the communication ports 103,115 facing each other as shown in FIG. 2. The default orientation of the mobile phone display will now be at a 90 degree angle to the display of the PDA. However, in accordance with the invention the processor 307 for determining the relative position of the second device will detect that the communication port is active and will therefore determine the location of the second device (the PDA) as being to that side of the mobile phone. Consequently, it will control the memory matrix of the display controller 305 to interchange the columns and rows thereby causing the display to be orientated such that it aligns with the display of the PDA as shown in FIG. 2.

When the processor 307 for determining the relative position of the second device determines that the communication port has not been used for a certain length of time it will determine that the mobile phone is no longer interworking with the PDA but is used as an independent unit. Consequently, it will control the memory matrix to restore the display to its original orientation. In another embodiment a user input can be used to terminate the interworking mode.

In a different embodiment, the relative position of the second device can be determined directly from a user input. In this embodiment the user can either enter information related to the location of the second device or can directly set the orientation of the display. However, in the preferred embodiment the relative position is determined automatically thereby providing the advantage that no user input is required.

In another embodiment of the invention, the orientation is pre-configured such that when the communication port is active the display will be orientated in the pre-configured direction and when it is not active it will return to the default orientation. This provides the advantage of a very simple implementation which is compatible with any second device regardless of the nature and type of this device. Specifically it will work regardless of the orientation of the second device display relative to the communication port of the second device. Hence, it is a flexible and robust approach.

In a different embodiment, the orientation is automatically determined from information exchanged over the communication ports. In this embodiment, a protocol is implemented in both devices whereby the PDA notifies the mobile phone of it’s 1R port location relative to the PDA display orientation. The mobile phone then uses this information in conjunction with it’s own IR port position relative to the mobile phone display to detennine the correct display orientation. Alternatively and/or additionally the information communicated over the communication ports simply contains an identification of the second device (the PDA). In this embodiment the mobile telephone contains a look up table, which has the appropriate display orientation for different devices. When the PDA communicates its identity (or simply device type) the mobile phone retrieves the appropriate entry in the look-up table and orientates the display as therein indicated.

This method has the advantage of allowing correct screen orientation for a number of different devices and may be used for phone to phone or PDA to PDA orientation where appropriate.

In the preferred embodiment the mobile phone also comprises a controller for communicating information of the current orientation of the display to other external devices. In this embodiment, the mobile phone contains two IR communication ports.

One of these ports is used for interworking with the PDA as previously described. As a consequence of this interworking the display is orientated differently than the default orientation. If a third device is to interface with the mobile phone (for example a second PDA) it will not be able to directly orientate its display to that of the mobile phone as it has no knowledge of the current orientation. As the communication ports typically will be on different sides of the mobile phone, it is not possible to orientated the display of the mobile phone to align with both of the external devices. This problem is solved by providing information to the second external device of the current relative orientation of the display relative to the second communications port. The second external device will then orientate its display to that of the mobile phone using the same techniques as used by the mobile phone in aligning with the first external device.

This provides the advantage that multiple devices can orientate their individual displays such that all displays align with each other.

The description above has been given in terms of PDAs and a mobile phone. However, it is within the contemplation of the invention that any device having a display can be used.

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The functions of the device may be implemented in any suitable manner to provide a suitable apparatus. As such the required adaptation may be implemented in the form of processor-implementable instructions stored on a storage medium, such as a floppy disk, hard disk, PROM, RAM or any combination of these or other storage media.

Furthermore, the device functions may be implemented in the form of hardware, firmware, software, or any combination of these.

As described above, the advantages of the invention include providing an easily readable display of a device when used with a second device.