Handheld electronic device with text disambiguation employing advanced editing features

• US 20060221057A1
• Filed: 04/04/2005
• Published: 10/05/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 04/04/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Malikie Innovations Limited (Key Patent Innovations Limited)
• Original Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Inventors: Griffin, Jason T., Fux, Vadim
• Granted Patent: US 7,956,843 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/169
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0236 using selection techniques to select from displayed items

Abstract

A handheld electronic device includes a reduced QWERTY keyboard and is enabled with disambiguation software. The device provides output in the form of a default output and a number of variants. The output is based largely upon the frequency, i.e., the likelihood that a user intended a particular output, but various features of the device provide additional variants that are not based solely on frequency and rather are provided by various logic structures resident on the device. The device enables editing during text entry and also provides a learning function that allows the disambiguation function to adapt to provide a customized experience for the user. The disambiguation function can be selectively disabled and an alternate keystroke interpretation system provided. Additionally, the device can facilitate the selection of variants by displaying a graphic of a special <NEXT> key of the keypad that enables a user to progressively select variants generally without changing the position of the user'"'"'s hands on the device. If a field into which text is being entered is determined to be a special input field, a disambiguated result can be sought first from a predetermined data source prior to seeking results from other data sources on the device.

Claims

1. A method of enabling disambiguation of an input into a handheld electronic device, the handheld electronic device including an input apparatus, an output apparatus, and a processor apparatus including a memory having a plurality of objects stored therein, the plurality of objects including a plurality of language objects and a plurality of frequency objects, each of at least a portion of the language objects of the plurality of language objects being associated with an associated frequency object of the plurality of frequency objects, the input apparatus including a plurality of input members, each of at least a portion of the input members of the plurality of input members having a plurality of linguistic elements assigned thereto, the method comprising:

detecting an ambiguous input including a plurality of input member actuations of a number of the input members of the plurality of input members, each of at least a portion of the input members of the number of input members including a number of linguistic elements assigned thereto, at least one of the input members of the number of input members having a plurality of linguistic elements assigned thereto;

generating a number of prefix objects corresponding with the ambiguous input, each prefix object of the number of prefix objects including a plurality of the linguistic elements of the number of the input members of the ambiguous input;

for each prefix object of at least a portion of the number of prefix objects, seeking a corresponding language object of the plurality of language objects that corresponds with the prefix object;

generating a result by, for each prefix object of at least a portion of the number of prefix objects, identifying a language object of the plurality of language objects, the identified language object corresponding with the prefix object, obtaining an associated frequency object of the plurality of frequency objects, the associated frequency object being associated with the identified language object and having a frequency value, and associating the frequency value of the associated frequency object with the prefix object;

for at least a portion of the prefix objects and the corresponding frequency values of the result, generating an output set of the at least a portion of the prefix objects sorted according to the frequency values associated therewith;

outputting an output including the prefix objects of at least a portion of the output set organized in descending order of frequency value, a prefix object of the at least a portion of the output set being a default prefix object having an initial portion and a terminal portion adjacent one another, the initial portion including a number of initial linguistic elements at an initial end of the default prefix, the terminal portion including a number of terminal linguistic elements at a terminal end of the default prefix;

detecting a deletion input with respect to the terminal portion;

detecting an actuation of another input member having a plurality of linguistic elements assigned thereto;

determining that the another input member is the same input member that was actuated to provide the terminal linguistic element of the number of terminal linguistic elements that was adjacent the initial portion; and

outputting as a replacement default prefix the initial portion and a replacement terminal portion, the replacement terminal portion including a replacement terminal linguistic element adjacent the initial portion, the replacement terminal linguistic element being a linguistic element of the plurality of linguistic elements assigned to the another input member and being opposite the linguistic element of said plurality of linguistic elements that was the terminal linguistic element adjacent the initial portion.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting an actuation of an additional input member having a plurality of linguistic elements assigned thereto;

determining that the additional input member is the same input member that was actuated to provide another terminal linguistic element that had been adjacent the terminal linguistic element that was adjacent the initial portion;

generating a number of additional prefix objects, each additional prefix object corresponding with the replacement default prefix plus a linguistic element of the plurality of linguistic elements assigned to the additional input member;

for each additional prefix object of at least a portion of the number of additional prefix objects, seeking a corresponding language object of the plurality of language objects that corresponds with the additional prefix object;

generating an additional result by, for each additional prefix object of at least a portion of the number of additional prefix objects, identifying a language object of the plurality of language objects, the identified language object corresponding with the additional prefix object, obtaining an associated frequency object of the plurality of frequency objects, the associated frequency object being associated with the identified language object and having a frequency value, and associating the frequency value of the associated frequency object with the additional prefix object;

for at least a portion of the additional prefix objects and corresponding frequency values of the additional result, generating an additional output set of the at least a portion of the additional prefix objects sorted according to the frequency values associated therewith; and

outputting an additional output including the additional prefix objects of at least a portion of the additional output set organized in descending order of frequency value.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting an actuation of an additional input member having a number of linguistic elements assigned thereto;

determining that the additional input member is different than the input member that was actuated to provide another terminal linguistic element that had been adjacent the terminal linguistic element that was adjacent the initial portion;

generating a number of additional prefix objects corresponding with the linguistic elements of the input members of the ambiguous input that were actuated to provide the initial portion plus the linguistic elements assigned to the another input member plus the linguistic elements assigned to the additional input member;

for each additional prefix object of at least a portion of the number of additional prefix objects, seeking a corresponding language object of the plurality of language objects that corresponds with the additional prefix object;

generating an additional result by, for each additional prefix object of at least a portion of the number of additional prefix objects, identifying a language object of the plurality of language objects, the identified language object corresponding with the additional prefix object, obtaining an associated frequency object of the plurality of frequency objects, the associated frequency object being associated with the identified language object and having a frequency value, and associating the frequency value of the associated frequency object with the additional prefix object;

for at least a portion of the additional prefix objects and corresponding frequency values of the additional result, generating an additional output set of the at least a portion of the additional prefix objects sorted according to the frequency values associated therewith;

outputting an additional output including the additional prefix objects of at least a portion of the additional output set organized in descending order of frequency value.

4. A handheld electronic device comprising:

a processor unit including a processor, an input apparatus, an output apparatus, and a memory having a plurality of objects and a routine stored therein;

the plurality of objects including a plurality of language objects and a plurality of frequency objects, each of at least a portion of the language objects of the plurality of language objects being associated with an associated frequency object of the plurality of frequency objects;

the input apparatus including a plurality of input members, each of at least a portion of the input members of the plurality of input members having a plurality of linguistic elements assigned thereto;

the processor being adapted to detect an ambiguous input including a plurality of input member actuations of a number of the input members of the plurality of input members, each of at least a portion of the input members of the number of input members including a number of linguistic elements assigned thereto, at least one of the input members of the number of input members having a plurality of linguistic elements assigned thereto;

the processor being adapted to generate a number of prefix objects corresponding with the ambiguous input, each prefix object of the number of prefix objects including a plurality of the linguistic elements of the number of the input members of the ambiguous input;

for each prefix object of at least a portion of the number of prefix objects, the processor being adapted to seek a corresponding language object of the plurality of language objects that corresponds with the prefix object;

the processor being adapted to generate a result by, for each prefix object of at least a portion of the number of prefix objects, identifying a language object of the plurality of language objects, the identified language object corresponding with the prefix object, obtaining an associated frequency object of the plurality of frequency objects, the associated frequency object being associated with the identified language object and having a frequency value, and associating the frequency value of the associated frequency object with the prefix object;

for at least a portion of the prefix objects and the corresponding frequency values of the result, the processor being adapted to generate an output set of the at least a portion of the prefix objects sorted according to the frequency values associated therewith;

the processor being adapted to output an output including the prefix objects of at least a portion of the output set organized in descending order of frequency value, a prefix object of the at least a portion of the output set being a default prefix object having an initial portion and a terminal portion adjacent one another, the initial portion including a number of initial linguistic elements at an initial end of the default prefix, the terminal portion including a number of terminal linguistic elements at a terminal end of the default prefix;

the processor being adapted to detect a deletion input with respect to the terminal portion;

the processor being adapted to detect an actuation of another input member having a plurality of linguistic elements assigned thereto;

the processor being adapted to determine that the another input member is the same input member that was actuated to provide the terminal linguistic element of the number of terminal linguistic elements that was adjacent the initial portion;

the processor being adapted to output as a replacement default prefix the initial portion and a replacement terminal portion, the replacement terminal portion including a replacement terminal linguistic element adjacent the initial portion, the replacement terminal linguistic element being a linguistic element of the plurality of linguistic elements assigned to the another input member and being opposite the linguistic element of said plurality of linguistic elements that was the terminal linguistic element adjacent the initial portion.

5. The handheld electronic device of claim 4, wherein the processor is adapted to:

detect an actuation of an additional input member having a plurality of linguistic elements assigned thereto;

determine that the additional input member is the same input member that was actuated to provide another terminal linguistic element that had been adjacent the terminal linguistic element that was adjacent the initial portion; and

generate a number of additional prefix objects, each additional prefix object corresponding with the replacement default prefix plus a linguistic element of the plurality of linguistic elements assigned to the additional input member;

for each additional prefix object of at least a portion of the number of additional prefix objects, the processor being adapted to seek a corresponding language object of the plurality of language objects that corresponds with the additional prefix object;

the processor being adapted to generate an additional result by, for each additional prefix object of at least a portion of the number of additional prefix objects, identifying a language object of the plurality of language objects, the identified language object corresponding with the additional prefix object, obtaining an associated frequency object of the plurality of frequency objects, the associated frequency object being associated with the identified language object and having a frequency value, and associating the frequency value of the associated frequency object with the additional prefix object;

for at least a portion of the additional prefix objects and corresponding frequency values of the additional result, the processor being adapted to generate an additional output set of the at least a portion of the additional prefix objects sorted according to the frequency values associated therewith; and

the processor being adapted to output an additional output including the additional prefix objects of at least a portion of the additional output set organized in descending order of frequency value.

6. The handheld electronic device of claim 4, wherein the processor is adapted to:

detect an actuation of an additional input member having a number of linguistic elements assigned thereto;

determine that the additional input member is different than the input member that was actuated to provide another terminal linguistic element that had been adjacent the terminal linguistic element that was adjacent the initial portion;

generate a number of additional prefix objects corresponding with the linguistic elements of the input members of the ambiguous input that were actuated to provide the initial portion plus the linguistic elements assigned to the another input member plus the linguistic elements assigned to the additional input member;

for each additional prefix object of at least a portion of the number of additional prefix objects, the processor being adapted to seek a corresponding language object of the plurality of language objects that corresponds with the additional prefix object;

the processor being adapted to generate an additional result by, for each additional prefix object of at least a portion of the number of additional prefix objects, identifying a language object of the plurality of language objects, the identified language object corresponding with the additional prefix object, obtaining an associated frequency object of the plurality of frequency objects, the associated frequency object being associated with the identified language object and having a frequency value, and associating the frequency value of the associated frequency object with the additional prefix object;

for at least a portion of the additional prefix objects and corresponding frequency values of the additional result, the processor being adapted to generate an additional output set of the at least a portion of the additional prefix objects sorted according to the frequency values associated therewith;

the processor being adapted to output an additional output including the additional prefix objects of at least a portion of the additional output set organized in descending order of frequency value.