Description

TERMINAL HAVING BOOT LAZY LOADING FUNCTION FOR WIRELESS INTERNET PLATFORM MODULE AND METHOD

OF CONTROLLING THE SAME

Technical Field

[1] The present invention relates, in general, to a terminal having a boot lazy loading function for a wireless Internet platform module and a method of controlling the terminal, and, more particularly, to a terminal having a boot lazy loading function for a wireless Internet platform module and a method of controlling the terminal, in which the phone Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) data of the terminal is configured as a plurality of Dynamic System Library (DSL) modules, and only essential DSL modules and libraries required to start up the platform of the terminal are loaded at the time of boot. Background Art

[2] Generally, a communication function, which allows a traveling person to exchange various types of data, such as characters, numbers, and images, with the other party using his or her mobile terminal enabling wireless transmission or reception, in a wireless manner through a base station system, is called wireless data communication. Such wireless data communication is a mobile communication system for bidi- rectionally exchanging or searching data in travel through various types of terminals, for example, a cellular phone, a portable computer, a fax machine, and a credit card checker.

[3] However, in the terminal of the mobile communication system, a region for a manufacturing company (Original Equipment Manufacturer: OEM) that produces the terminal is included in an operating system for managing internal memory, and a region for Wireless Internet Platform for Interoperability (WIPI), managed by a network operator that operates the communication network of such s terminal, is also included. Further, when the system is operated, the conventional terminal must conduct a boot process for initially starting up, for example, an OEM or WIPI platform. In such a boot process, a procedure for copying phone BIOS data including the Operating System (OS) of the platform, so-called embedded system-type phone BIOS data, to volatile memory and loading the phone BIOS data is performed.

[4] In this case, the term 'embedded system' means a system implemented to embed software in hardware and to have only a special function. Such an embedded system has specific requirements, unlike a Personal Computer (PC), and performs only predefined tasks. For example, a PC contains an OS in a high?capacity storage device,

such as a hard disc, whereas the embedded system is implemented such that an OS and application programs are stored in Read-Only Memory (ROM) (flash memory) in the form of images, and a Random- Access Memory (RAM) disk is created at the same time that boot is performed, and thus the OS and application programs are implemented and executed on the RAM disk. Examples of the embedded system include game devices, such as PS2 and X-Box, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), mobile phones, etc.

[5] A conventional terminal 70 having a platform loading function, as described above, is described with reference to FIG. 1. The terminal 70 includes ROM 71, which is nonvolatile memory for storing phone BIOS data for platform operation in an embedded form, RAM 72 for storing internally processed temporary data, including data copied from the ROM 71, and a control unit 73 for executing the function of a platform, for example, an OEM platform or a WIPI platform, using the phone BIOS data copied to the RAM 72.

[6] Meanwhile, the boot operation performed by the conventional terminal having embedded platform data is described below. First, when the user of the terminal presses the start button of a keypad to turn on the system, the control unit 73 of the terminal 70 first boots the terminal 70. That is, the phone BIOS data, for example, the OS and application programs, are stored in the ROM 71 of the terminal 70 in the form of images, and are loaded into the RAM 72 at the same time that boot is performed, so that a RAM disk is created, and thereafter the OS and application programs, for example, an OEM application or a WIPI application, are executed on the RAM disk. Therefore, as described above, when the boot process has succeeded, the control unit 73 of the terminal 70 implements other functions set by the user of the terminal through the application of the platform.

[7] However, the conventional embedded platform- type terminal is problematic in that, since all of the libraries of the phone BIOS (that is, an implicit call) must be loaded at the time of boot, the application loading time is greatly increased, so that the user of the terminal is bored and inconvenienced, and thus the convenience of using the terminal is lessened, and in that, since even libraries that are not immediately used at that time must be loaded at the time of boot and occupy memory space, the efficiency of use of the memory space is greatly decreased. Disclosure of Invention Technical Solution

[8] Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a terminal having a boot lazy loading function for a wireless Internet platform module

and a method of controlling the terminal, which utilize only boot data required to start up a platform at the time of booting the terminal, so that the initial startup time of the platform is greatly reduced.

[9] Another object of the present invention is to provide a terminal having a boot lazy loading function for a wireless Internet platform module and a method of controlling the terminal, which load only essential DSL modules and libraries required to start up a platform among a plurality of pieces of phone BIOS data, so that available memory space can be secured compared to a conventional boot operation, thus maximizing the efficiency of use of the memory space provided in the terminal.

Advantageous Effects

[10] The present invention is advantageous in that it configures the phone BIOS data of a terminal as a plurality of DSL modules, and loads only the essential DSL modules required to start up the platform of the terminal at the time of boot, so that only boot data required to start up the platform is utilized at the time of boot, and thus the initial startup time of the platform can be greatly reduced.

[11] Further, the present invention is advantageous in that, since only essential DSL modules required to start up the platform, among a plurality of pieces of phone BIOS data, are loaded, available memory space can be secured, compared to a conventional boot operation, and thus the efficiency of use of memory provided in the terminal can be maximized. Brief Description of the Drawings

[12] The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[13] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the boot function of conventional terminal;

[14] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a mobile communication terminal having a boot lazy loading function for a wireless Internet platform module; and

[15] FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a control method according to the present invention.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[16] In accordance with an aspect of the present invention to accomplish the above objects, there is provided a terminal having a boot lazy loading function for a wireless Internet platform module, comprising a first storage medium, which is non-volatile memory for configuring phone Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) data and application programs as a plurality of Dynamic System Library (DSL) modules, and storing the DSL modules; a second storage medium, which is volatile memory for loading only essential DSL modules, having essential phone BIOS data, required to start up a platform at a time of boot, from the first storage medium; and a main control unit for

performing control such that only essential DSL modules required to start up the platform at the time of boot are loaded into the second storage medium, and such that, after boot has been performed, an application function of the platform is executed using the loaded phone BIOS data.

[17] In accordance with another aspect of the present invention to accomplish the above objects, there is provided a method of controlling a terminal having a boot lazy loading function for a wireless Internet platform module, comprising a system boot preparation step of retrieving only essential Dynamic System Library (DSL) modules, required to start up a platform at a time of boot, from Read-Only Memory (ROM) of the terminal when a system is turned on; and a boot lazy loading step of, after the system boot preparation step, loading the essential DSL modules, required to start up the platform at the time of boot and retrieved from the ROM of the terminal, into Random- Access Memory (RAM), thus booting the terminal. Mode for the Invention

[18] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings.

[19] As shown in FIG. 2, the present invention includes a terminal 1 for configuring phone BIOS data and application programs as a plurality of Dynamic System Library (DSL) modules, loads essential DSL modules required to start up a platform into a memory device at the time of boot, and utilizes the application of the loaded platform to execute the function set by a user after boot has been performed.

[20] The terminal 1 can be a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a notebook computer, a

Personal Computer (PC), or a mobile phone, each provided with a Radio Frequency (RF) module. Further, each of the DSL modules denotes a module in which a plurality of libraries is collected.

[21] Further, the terminal 1 includes a first storage medium 2, a second storage medium 3, a main control unit 4, an RF module unit 6, a display 7, a codec unit 9, and a key panel unit 10. The first storage medium 2 is non-volatile memory (Read Only Memory: ROM) (hereinafter referred to as 'ROM') for configuring phone BIOS data and application programs as a plurality of Dynamic System Library (DSL) modules and storing the DSL modules. The second storage medium 3 is volatile memory (Random Access Memory: RAM) (hereinafter referred to as 'RAM') for loading only essential DSL modules required to start up a platform from the ROM 2 at the time of boot, and storing temporary data internally processed in the terminal. The main control unit 4 performs control such that only essential DSL modules required to start up the platform are loaded into the RAM 3 at the time of boot, and such that the application function of the platform, for example, an OEM platform or a WIPI platform, is

executed using the loaded phone BIOS data after boot has been performed. The RF module unit 6 processes a radio call signal (including a multimedia signal) including a video signal and an audio signal, which are transmitted to or received from the terminal 1 via a radio access network system 5 in response to a transmission control signal from the main control unit 4. The display 7 externally displays various types of data processed by the terminal 1 in response to a display function control signal from the main control unit 4. The codec unit 9 converts an analog audio signal, input through a handset unit 8, into a digital signal, or converts a digital audio signal into an analog signal in response to a call connection control signal from the main control unit 4. The key panel unit 10 is connected to one end of the main control unit 4 to input a function set signal, manipulated by the user, to the main control unit 4.

[22] Hereinafter, the control method applied to the above-described terminal is described.

[23] As shown in FIG. 3, the process of the method of the present invention proceeds to a system ON state determination step Sl, in which whether the system of the terminal is turned on is determined. In this case, if it is determined at the system ON state determination step Sl that the system of the terminal is not turned on, the process proceeds to a termination step. In contrast, if it is determined at the system ON state determination step S 1 that the system of the terminal is turned on, the process proceeds to a system boot preparation step S2, in which only essential DSL modules required to start up a platform at the time of boot are retrieved from the ROM of the terminal. Further, after the system boot preparation step S2, the process proceeds to a boot lazy loading step S3, only essential DSL modules, required to start up the platform at the time of boot and retrieved from the ROM of the terminal, are loaded into the RAM, and thus the terminal is booted.

[24] After the boot lazy loading step S3, the process proceeds to a function execution step

S4, in which the terminal runs the application of the platform, thus performing the function set by the user.

[25] That is, in the terminal 1 of the present invention, when the user presses the starting button of the key panel unit 10 to turn on the terminal, the main control unit 4 recognizes the pressing of the starting button, and thus performs a boot function. In this case, the main control unit 4 retrieves only essential DSL modules, required to start up the platform at the time of boot, from the ROM 2. Further, the main control unit 4 loads only the DSL modules, required to start up the platform at the time of boot and retrieved from the ROM 2 of the terminal, into the RAM 2, thus booting the terminal 1.

[26] Therefore, when the terminal 1 is booted through the above process, unnecessary libraries are not called and unnecessary applications are not run, so that the loading time can be shortened to a corresponding degree, and memory space can be efficiently utilized.

[27] Meanwhile, as described above, when the terminal 1 is booted, and the system thereof is turned on, the user of the terminal 1 implements his or her desired function. At this time, when the user enters a phone number through the key panel unit 10 and presses a send button, the main control unit 4 of the terminal 1 recognizes the phone number, accesses the radio access network system 5 through the RF module unit 6 via an access channel in response to the phone number entered by the user, and then transmits an originating call signal to the location corresponding to the phone number.

[28] Then, the radio access network system 5 authenticates the originating call signal, transmitted from the terminal 1, separates routing information included in the originating call signal from the originating call signal, and transmits a response call to the other party's terminal 11, thus establishing a call.

[29] In this case, when the user of the terminal 1 inputs an audio signal through the handset unit 8, the codec unit 9 of the terminal 1 performs signal processing on the audio signal, input through the handset unit 8, and provides the resulting signal to the RF module unit 6. Further, the RF module unit 6, functionally controlled by the main control unit 4 of the terminal 1, processes the audio signal, input through the codec unit 9, in a wireless manner, and transmits the processed audio signal to the other party's terminal 11 via the radio access network system 5, thus conducting typical communication. Industrial Applicability

[30] As described above, the present invention is advantageous in that it configures the phone BIOS data of a terminal as a plurality of DSL modules, and loads only the essential DSL modules required to start up the platform of the terminal at the time of boot, so that only boot data required to start up the platform is utilized at the time of boot, and thus the initial startup time of the platform can be greatly reduced.

[31] Further, the present invention is advantageous in that, since only essential DSL modules required to start up the platform, among a plurality of pieces of phone BIOS data, are loaded, available memory space can be secured, compared to a conventional boot operation, and thus the efficiency of use of memory provided in the terminal can be maximized.

[32] Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.