Contextualized Application Group Management for Communication Terminals

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Solution Overview

Problem

Users face difficulty in selecting and managing software applications on communication terminals due to the large number of available options, leading to resource consumption and navigation challenges, with existing solutions only addressing organization and not automation or new application determination.

Innovation Solution

A method for managing software applications by forming groups based on user-defined contexts, associating these groups with contextual information, and storing them in a database for dynamic retrieval and presentation, allowing for automated access to relevant applications without manual navigation.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If users manually organize applications into groups with labels, then application organization is improved, but user operation complexity increases and automation is lacking

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveapplication organizationVSAvoiduser operation complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system automatically performs application organization tasks without requiring manual user intervention. The contextualized application group management system self-organizes applications based on contextual information, eliminating the need for users to manually create and manage groups and labels.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The system pre-configures application groups with associated contextual information before users need them. By establishing the framework of contextualized application groups in advance, the system prepares organized application structures that automatically adapt to user needs without requiring real-time manual organization.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

2Adaptability or versatility

If users install many software applications to meet diverse needs, then application availability is improved, but resource consumption increases and navigation difficulty worsens

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveapplication availabilityVSAvoidresource consumption
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The system segments the large set of installed applications into smaller contextualized application groups based on contextual information. This segmentation allows the system to present only relevant application subsets to users in different contexts, reducing the effective number of applications users need to navigate while maintaining comprehensive application availability.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The system dynamically adjusts which application groups are presented to users based on real-time contextual information such as location, time, and device state. This dynamic adaptation ensures that users access only the applications relevant to their current situation, reducing navigation overhead and resource consumption while maintaining versatility.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

3Measurement precision

If users manually select and navigate through application groups, then access precision is improved, but time efficiency deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveapplication access precisionVSAvoidnavigation time
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system uses contextual information as feedback to automatically determine and present the most relevant application groups to users. By continuously monitoring contextual parameters and adjusting application group presentation accordingly, the system achieves both precise application access and time efficiency without requiring manual navigation.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

Solution Approach 2:

The system introduces contextual information as an intermediary between the user and the application selection process. This intermediary automatically interprets user needs based on contextual parameters and translates them into appropriate application group presentations, eliminating the need for direct manual navigation while maintaining access precision.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

4Adaptability or versatility

If the system presents all available applications to users, then application selection completeness is improved, but information overload increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveapplication selection completenessVSAvoidinformation overload
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The system segments the complete set of available applications into multiple contextualized application groups, each relevant to specific contexts. This segmentation allows the system to maintain complete application availability in the background while presenting only relevant subsets to users in any given context, preventing information overload.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The system applies different presentation qualities to different application groups based on their relevance to the current context. Highly relevant applications receive prominent presentation while less relevant applications are either hidden or presented with lower priority, ensuring that users receive complete application options without being overwhelmed by irrelevant information.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

Data Source

PatentEP2565783B1Groups of contextualised applications for a communication terminal
Publication Date: 2014.08.13 ALCATEL LUCENT SA
  • EP2565783B1 patent drawingFigure 1~3
  • EP2565783B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP2565783B1 patent drawingFigure 4

AI summary

The method involves forming a group of applications by selecting applications and by assigning the applications to a group among applications. The group of applications is associated to a context determined by a user of a communication terminal (T1) to form a group of contextualized applications. The group of contextualized applications is stored in a data base, and a dynamic context is determined from the contextual information provided by the terminal. Groups of contextualized applications corresponding to the dynamic context are recovered in the database and displayed to the user. Independent claims are also included for the following: (1) a communication terminal (2) a computer program comprising a unit to perform a method for managing applications accessible on a communication terminal.