Electronic device and operating method thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2017195830-A1
Application number	US-201615393569-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 29, 2016
Priority date	Dec 30, 2015
Publication date	Jul 6, 2017
Grant date	—

Abstract

An electronic device, according to various example embodiments of the present disclosure, may include: a housing; a display disposed to be exposed through one surface of the housing; at least one fastener formed on at least one surface of the housing and configured to be attached to, and detached from, an external electronic device; a communication circuit disposed inside the housing and configured to establish a communication connection with the external electronic device; and a processor disposed inside the housing, wherein the processor is configured to: determine whether the electronic device is connected with the external electronic device through the communication circuit; determine the type of the connected external electronic device when the electronic device is connected with the external electronic device; display, on the display, at least one preset function corresponding to the determined type of the external electronic device among a plurality of functions of the electronic device; and provide a function selected from the at least one function displayed on the display.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An electronic device comprising:
a housing: a display disposed to be exposed through one surface of the housing; at least one fastener formed on at least one surface of the housing and configured to be attached to, and detached from, an external electronic device; a communication circuit disposed inside the housing and configured to establish a communication connection with the external electronic device; and a processor disposed inside the housing, wherein the processor is configured to: determine whether the electronic device is connected with the external electronic device through the communication circuit; determine a type of the connected external electronic device when the electronic device is connected with the external electronic device; display, on the display, at least one preset function corresponding to the determined type of the external electronic device among a plurality of functions of the electronic device; and provide a function selected from the at least one function displayed on the display.

2 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the communication circuit comprises:
an NFC communication circuit configured to recognize an NFC tag included in the external electronic device; and a Bluetooth communication circuit configured to establish a communication connection with the external electronic device based on information included in the NFC tag.

3 . The electronic device of claim 2 , wherein the information included in the NFC tag comprises at least one of: communication connection information and type information of the external electronic device.

4 . The electronic device of claim 3 , wherein the processor is configured to identify the type of the connected external electronic device based on the type information of the external electronic device.

5 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to:
set the electronic device to perform the function selected from the at least one function displayed on the display; notify the connected external electronic device that the electronic device has been set to perform the selected function; receive a control signal corresponding to the selected function from the connected external electronic device; and provide the selected function based on the received control signal.

6 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one preset function corresponding to the type of the external electronic device comprises at least one of: a touch pad function, a dual display function, a smart pallet function, a remote controller function, a streaming function, an input interface function, a charging function, and a health care function.

7 . The electronic device of claim 6 , wherein the processor is configured to control an input on a display of the connected external electronic device in response to a touch input received on the display of the electronic device when the selected function is the touch pad function.

8 . The electronic device of claim 6 , wherein the processor is configured to display an image photographed using a camera mounted on the rear surface of the external electronic device on at least one of the display of the electronic device or a display of the external electronic device when the selected function is the dual display function, the display of the electronic device configured to be mounted in a mounting recess formed in the rear surface of the external electronic device through the fastener.

9 . The electronic device of claim 6 , wherein the processor is configured to display an image photographed using a camera mounted on the front surface of the external electronic device on a display of the external electronic device and to simultaneously display an image photographed using a camera mounted on the rear surface of the external electronic device on the display of the electronic device mounted in a mounting recess formed in the rear surface of the external electronic device through the fastener when the selected function is the dual display function.

10 . The electronic device of claim 6 , wherein the processor is configured to display a body part to be recognized using a biometric sensor mounted on the rear surface of the external electronic device on at least one of the display of the electronic device or a display of the external electronic device where the selected function is the dual display function, the display of the electronic device being mounted in a mounting recess formed in the rear surface of the external electronic device through the fastener.

11 . A method for operating an electronic device, comprising:
determining whether the electronic device is connected with an external electronic device; determining the type of the connected external electronic device when the electronic device is connected with the external electronic device; displaying, on a display of the electronic device, at least one preset function corresponding to the determined type of the external electronic device among a plurality of functions of the electronic device; and providing a function selected from the at least one function displayed on the display.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the determining whether the electronic device is connected with the external electronic device comprises:
determining whether an NFC tag is recognized: and when the NFC tag is recognized, determining that the electronic device is connected with the external electronic device and establishing a communication connection with the external electronic device based on information included in the NFC tag.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the information included in the NFC tag comprises at least one of: communication connection information and type information of the external electronic device.

14 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the providing the function selected from the at least one function displayed on the display comprises:
setting the electronic device to perform the function selected from the at least one function displayed on the display; notifying the connected external electronic device that the electronic device has been set to perform the selected function; receiving a control signal corresponding to the selected function from the connected external electronic device; and providing the selected function based on the received control signal.

15 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the at least one preset function corresponding to the type of the external electronic device is a touch pad function,
wherein the providing the selected function comprises controlling a touch input on a display of the connected external electronic device in response to a touch input on the display of the electronic device when the selected function is the touch pad function.

16 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the at least one preset function corresponding to the type of the external electronic device is a dual display function,
wherein the providing the selected function comprises displaying an image photographed using a camera mounted on the rear surface of the external electronic device on at least one of the display of the electronic device and a display of the external electronic device when the selected function is the dual display function, the display of the electronic device being mounted in a mounting recess formed in the rear surface of the external electronic device through a fastener.

17 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the at least one preset function corresponding to the type of the external electronic de

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Ko Jae-Hun
• Kim Tae-Wan

Classifications

• H04W4/80 Primary

  Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication · CPC title

• H04W68/005

  Transmission of information for alerting of incoming communication · CPC title

• H04M2250/52

  including functional features of a camera · CPC title

• H04M2250/16

  including more than one display unit · CPC title

• H04M11/007

  with remote control systems (remote control in general G08C) · CPC title