Recognition of handwritten words
First Claim
1. A method of recognizing words from handwritten characters using a computer dictionary and a computer recognizer, the recognizer producing a set of one or more alternatives for each character in a handwritten word, with at least one set having plural alternatives, each alternative having a probability of corresponding to the character ranging from a highest probability alternative to a lowest probability alternative, comprising:
- looking up in the computer dictionary a sequence of strings, each string having one alternative from each set and being looked up as a unit, the sequence being in a defined order based on the probabilities of the alternatives, the defined order being such that A varies from Y to 0, where Y is the number of sets produced from the word and A is the number of sets contributing an alternative that is the highest probability alternative of its set;
if the string is found in the dictionary, stopping further looking up if the number of strings found in the dictionary is equal to a preselected wordnumber value; and
displaying at least one of the strings found in the dictionary.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and system of recognizing words from handwritten symbols that are recognized by a computer recognizer. The recognizer produces a set of one or more alternatives for each symbol and orders the alternatives within each set in terms of the probability that each alternative matches the handwritten symbol for the set. A sequence of strings, each string having one alternative from each set, is enumerated. The enumerating proceeds in order such that the most probable alternatives from each set are used before the lower probability alternatives. Preferably, each string enumerated is looked up in a computer dictionary before enumerating other strings. If the string is found in the dictionary, the string is displayed, and preferably further enumerating stops. In an alternative embodiment, plural strings are enumerated before looking up a string in the dictionary. In another embodiment, plural strings are displayed before stopping further enumeration. Amended symbols may be used to change individual characters within a previously recognized word. A set of alternatives for each amended symbol is coupled with the unchanged symbols before enumerating strings and looking the strings up in a dictionary.
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Citations
34 Claims
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1. A method of recognizing words from handwritten characters using a computer dictionary and a computer recognizer, the recognizer producing a set of one or more alternatives for each character in a handwritten word, with at least one set having plural alternatives, each alternative having a probability of corresponding to the character ranging from a highest probability alternative to a lowest probability alternative, comprising:
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looking up in the computer dictionary a sequence of strings, each string having one alternative from each set and being looked up as a unit, the sequence being in a defined order based on the probabilities of the alternatives, the defined order being such that A varies from Y to 0, where Y is the number of sets produced from the word and A is the number of sets contributing an alternative that is the highest probability alternative of its set; if the string is found in the dictionary, stopping further looking up if the number of strings found in the dictionary is equal to a preselected wordnumber value; and displaying at least one of the strings found in the dictionary. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of recognizing words from handwritten characters using a computer dictionary and a computer recognizer, the recognizer producing a set of one or more alternatives for each character in a handwritten word, with at least one set having plural alternatives, each alternative having a probability of corresponding to the character ranging from a highest probability alternative to a lowest probability alternative, comprising:
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looking up in the computer dictionary a sequence of strings, each string having one alternative from each set and being looked up as a unit, the looking up proceeding in a defined order based on the probabilities of the alternatives, the defined order being such that strings with high probability alternatives are looked up before strings with low probability alternatives; and if one of the strings is found in the dictionary, outputting the string found in the dictionary. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A system for recognizing words from handwritten characters using a computer dictionary and a computer recognizer, the recognizer producing a set of one or more alternatives for each character in a handwritten word, with at least one set having plural alternatives, each alternative having a probability of corresponding to the character ranging from a highest probability alternative to a lowest probability alternative, comprising:
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means for looking up in the computer dictionary a sequence of strings, each string having one alternative from each set and being looked up as a unit, the sequence being in a defined order based on the probabilities of the alternatives, the defined order being such that A varies from Y to 0, where Y is the number of sets produced from the word and A is the number of sets contributing an alternative that is the highest probability alternative of its set; means for stopping further looking up if the number of strings found in the dictionary is equal to a preselected wordnumber value; and means for displaying the strings found in the dictionary. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22)
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23. A method of recognizing a handwritten word from handwritten characters using a computer dictionary and a computer recognizer, the characters including an amending character that is written in order to change a previously recognized character, comprising:
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producing a set of plural alternatives for the amending character, each alternative having a relative probability ranging from a highest probability to a lowest probability; forming a sequence of strings in a defined order beginning with a string that includes the alternative with the highest probability, each string including unchanged previously recognized characters and an alternative from the set; looking up in a computer dictionary one or more of the formed strings as units according to the defined order; and displaying a string found in the dictionary. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25)
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26. A system for recognizing words from handwritten characters, comprising:
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a computer recognizer producing a set of one or more alternatives for each character in a handwritten word, with at least one set having plural alternatives, each alternative having a probability of corresponding to the character ranging from a highest probability alternative to a lowest probability alternative; a computer dictionary; means for looking up in a dictionary a sequence of strings, each string having one alternative from each set and being looked up as a unit, the looking up proceeding in a defined order based on the probabilities of the alternatives, the defined order being such that A varies from Y to 0, where Y is the number of sets produced from the word and A is the number of sets contributing an alternative that is the highest probability alternative of its set; means for stopping further looking up of one of the strings is found in the dictionary; and means for displaying the string found in the dictionary. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28)
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29. A computer storage medium having executable instructions for controlling a computer to recognize an input word having handwritten characters, the executable instructions including instructions for:
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producing a set of one or more alternatives for each character in the input word, with at least one set having plural alternatives, each alternative having a probability of corresponding to the character ranging from a highest probability alternative to a lowest probability alternative; looking up in a computer dictionary a sequence of strings, each string having one alternative from each set and being looked up as a unit, the the sequence being in a defined order based on the probabilities of the alternatives, the defined order being such that strings with high probability alternatives are looked up before strings with low probability alternatives; and outputting one of the strings if the string being output is found in the dictionary. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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Specification