Handheld electronic device with text disambiguation

• US 7,333,085 B2
• Filed: 06/02/2004
• Issued: 02/19/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/02/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Malikie Innovations Limited (Key Patent Innovations Limited)
• Original Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Inventors: Elizarov, Michael G., Kolomiets, Sergey V., Fux, Vadim
• Primary Examiner(s): DHARIA, PRABODH M
• Application Number:
  US10/858,828
• Publication Number:
  US 20060007117A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,357 Days
• Field of Search: 345168-173, 345/184, 345/156, 341/22, 341/23, 341/26, 341/106, 715/811, 715/816, 715/533, 710/67, 704/247
• US Class Current: 345/156
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0237 using prediction or retrieval techniques

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.

Claims

1. A method of disambiguating an input into a handheld electronic device, the handheld electronic device including an input apparatus, an output apparatus, and 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 plurality of language objects including a plurality of word objects and a plurality of n-gram objects, substantially each n-gram object of the plurality of n-gram objects including at least a first character, 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 characters assigned thereto, the method comprising:

detecting an ambiguous input including a number 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 characters assigned thereto, at least one of the input members of the number of input members having a plurality of characters assigned thereto;

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

generating a first result by, for each prefix object of at least a portion of the number of prefix objects, identifying a word object of the plurality of word objects, the identified word 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 word object and having a frequency value, and associating the frequency value of the associated frequency object with the prefix object;

determining that the quantity of prefix objects in the first result is fewer than a predetermined number;

responsive to said determining that the quantity of prefix objects in the first result is fewer than a predetermined number, providing a second result that includes a number of string objects, substantially each string object of the number of string objects being at least one of an orphan prefix object for which a corresponding word object of the plurality of word objects was not identified and an artificial variant object, substantially each string object of the number of string objects corresponding with at least a portion of the ambiguous input;

outputting an output;

outputting each of at least a portion of the prefix objects of the first result as at least a first portion of the output; and

outputting each of at least a portion of the string objects of the second result as at least a second portion of the output.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising outputting as at least a portion of the output the prefix objects of the first result in descending order of frequency value from the default output to the variant output, associating with substantially each string object of the second result an associated frequency object of the plurality of frequency objects having a frequency value, and outputting as at least a portion of the output each of at least a portion of the string objects of the second result in descending order of frequency value from the default output to the variant output and as being each of relatively lesser frequency value than the prefix objects of the first result.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising outputting as the output an output that includes a default output and a variant output.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising providing the default output as being of a relatively higher priority than the variant output.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising determining that a particular prefix object is of a length having a first quantity of characters, determining that a particular identified word object corresponding with the particular prefix object is of a length having a second quantity of characters, determining that the first quantity is equal to the second quantity, and outputting as at least a portion of the default output the particular prefix object.

6. The method of claim 3, further comprising outputting at least a portion of the first result as at least a portion of the default output, and outputting at least a portion of the second result as at least a portion of the variant output.

7. The method of claim 3, further comprising outputting as the default output a first entry, and outputting as the variant output a number of additional entries, the quantity of the first entry plus the number of additional entries totaling the predetermined number.

8. The method of claim 3, further comprising detecting as the ambiguous input a number of input member actuations of a number of the input members of the plurality of input members, the number of input member actuations including a prefix input member actuation and a terminal input member actuation, the prefix input member actuation preceding the terminal input member actuation, responsive to the prefix input member actuation:

generating a number of initial prefix objects corresponding with the prefix input member actuation of the ambiguous input, each initial prefix object of the number of initial prefix objects including a number of the characters of the number of the input members of the prefix input member actuation;

generating an initial first result by, for each initial prefix object of at least a portion of the number of initial prefix objects, identifying a word object of the plurality of word objects, the identified word object corresponding with the initial prefix object; and

outputting as at least a first portion of the default output an initial prefix object of the initial first result as a default initial prefix object;

detecting as the terminal input member actuation an actuation of an input member having assigned thereto a number of characters, responsive to the terminal input member actuation;

generating a number of subsequent prefix objects corresponding with the prefix input member actuation and the terminal input member actuation, each subsequent prefix object including a number of the characters of the number of the input members of the prefix input member actuation and the input member of the terminal input member actuation, at least a portion of the subsequent prefix objects including the default initial prefix object and a character of the number of characters of the input member of the terminal input member actuation;

determining that substantially each of the subsequent prefix objects of said at least a portion of the subsequent prefix objects including the default initial prefix object and a character of the number of characters of the input member of the terminal input member actuation is an orphan prefix object for which a corresponding word object of the plurality of word objects was not identified; and

providing as at least a portion of the second result at least a first said orphan prefix object as an at least first artificial variant object.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising outputting a said artificial variant object as at least a portion of the output.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising outputting as at least a portion of the output a first said artificial variant object including the default initial prefix object and a character of the number of characters of the input member of the terminal input member actuation, outputting as at least a portion of the output a second said artificial variant object including the default initial prefix object and another character of the number of characters of the input member of the terminal input member actuation, associating with the first artificial variant object a first frequency object of the plurality of frequency objects having a first frequency value, associating with the second artificial variant object a second frequency object of the plurality of frequency objects having a second frequency value, determining that one of the first frequency value and the second frequency value is greater than the other of the first frequency value and the second frequency value, outputting as at least a portion of the default output whichever of the first artificial variant object and the second artificial variant object with which is associated the one of the first frequency value and the second frequency value, outputting as at least a portion of the variant output whichever of the first artificial variant object and the second artificial variant object with which is associated the other of the first frequency value and the second frequency value.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising determining that substantially each of the subsequent prefix objects of the number of subsequent prefix objects is an orphan prefix object.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising determining that the one of the first artificial variant object and the second artificial variant object has a higher priority than the other of the first artificial variant object and the second artificial variant object since a final three characters of the one of the first artificial variant object and the second artificial variant object correspond with a first n-gram object having three characters.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising determining that a final three characters of the other of the first artificial variant object and the second artificial variant object correspond with a second n-gram object having three characters, determining that the first n-gram object is associated with an associated first frequency object of the plurality of frequency objects having the one of the first frequency value and the second frequency value, determining that the second n-gram object is associated with an associated second frequency object of the plurality of frequency objects having the other of the first frequency value and the second frequency value.

14. The method of claim 10, further comprising determining that a final two characters of one of the first artificial variant object and the second artificial variant object correspond with a first n-gram object of the plurality of n-gram objects having two characters, the first n-gram object being associated with an associated first frequency object of the plurality of frequency objects having the one of the first frequency value and the second frequency value, determining that a final two characters of the other of the first artificial variant object and the second artificial variant object correspond with a second n-gram object of the plurality of n-gram objects having two characters, and determining that the second n-gram object is associated with an associated second frequency object of the plurality of frequency objects having the other of the first frequency value and the second frequency value.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising determining that a final three characters of the first artificial variant object lack a correspondence with an n-gram object of the plurality of n-gram objects having three characters, and determining that a final three characters of the second artificial variant object lack a correspondence with an n-gram object of the plurality of n-gram objects having three characters.

16. The method of claim 3, further comprising detecting as the ambiguous input a number of input member actuations of a number of the input members of the plurality of input members, the number of input member actuations including a prefix input member actuation and a terminal input member actuation, the prefix input member actuation preceding the terminal input member actuation, responsive to the prefix input member actuation:

generating a number of initial prefix objects corresponding with the prefix input member actuation of the ambiguous input, each initial prefix object of the number of initial prefix objects including a number of the characters of the number of the input members of the prefix input member actuation;

generating an initial first result by, for each initial prefix object of at least a portion of the number of initial prefix objects, identifying a word object of the plurality of word objects, the identified word object corresponding with the initial prefix object; and

outputting as at least a first portion of the default output an initial prefix object of the initial first result as a default initial prefix object, the word object of the plurality of word objects corresponding with the default initial prefix object being associated with an associated first frequency object of the plurality of frequency objects having a first frequency value;

detecting as the terminal input member actuation an actuation of an input member having assigned thereto a number of characters, responsive to the terminal input member actuation;

generating a number of subsequent prefix objects corresponding with the prefix input member actuation and the terminal input member actuation, each subsequent prefix object including a number of the characters of the number of the input members of the prefix input member actuation and they input member of the terminal input member actuation;

generating a subsequent first result by, for each subsequent prefix object of at least a portion of the number of subsequent prefix objects, identifying a word object of the plurality of word objects, the identified word object corresponding with the subsequent prefix object;

outputting as at least a portion of the default output a subsequent prefix object of the subsequent first result as a default subsequent prefix object, the word object of the plurality of word objects corresponding with the default subsequent prefix object being associated with an associated second frequency object of the plurality of frequency objects having a second frequency value, determining that the second frequency value is greater than the first frequency value, the default subsequent prefix object including a default subsequent prefix portion corresponding with the prefix input member actuation and a default subsequent terminal portion corresponding with the terminal input member actuation;

determining that the default subsequent prefix portion of the default subsequent prefix object is different than the default initial prefix object; and

providing as at least a portion of the second result a first artificial variant object including the default initial prefix object and a character of the number of characters of the input member of the terminal input member actuation, and providing as at least another portion of the second result a second artificial variant object including the default initial prefix object and another character of the number of characters of the input member of the terminal input member actuation.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising determining that the default subsequent terminal portion corresponds with a character of the number of characters of the input member of the terminal input member actuation, and providing as at least a portion of the second result a third artificial variant object including the default subsequent prefix portion and another character of the number of characters of the input member of the terminal input member actuation.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising outputting as at least a portion of the variant output at least a portion of the first artificial variant, the second artificial variant, and the third artificial variant.

19. The method of claim 3, further comprising detecting as the ambiguous input a number of input member actuations of a number of the input members of the plurality of input members, the number of input member actuations including a prefix input member actuation and a terminal input member actuation, the prefix input member actuation preceding the terminal input member actuation, responsive to the prefix input member actuation:

generating a number of initial prefix objects corresponding with the prefix input member actuation of the ambiguous input, each initial prefix object of the number of initial prefix objects including a number of the characters of the number of the input members of the prefix input member actuation;

generating an initial first result by, for each initial prefix object of at least a portion of the number of initial prefix objects, identifying a word object of the plurality of word objects, the identified word object corresponding with the initial prefix object; and

outputting as at least a first portion of the default output an initial prefix object of the initial first result as a default initial prefix object;

detecting a selection input as to at least a portion of the variant output to provide a selected variant;

detecting as the terminal input member actuation an actuation of an input member having assigned thereto a number of characters, responsive to the terminal input member actuation;

generating a number of subsequent prefix objects corresponding with the prefix input member actuation and the terminal input member actuation, each subsequent prefix object of the number of subsequent prefix objects including a number of the characters of the number of the input members of the prefix input member actuation and the terminal input member actuation, each of at least a portion of the subsequent prefix objects of the number of subsequent prefix objects including the selected variant and a character of the number of characters of the input member of the terminal input member actuation; and

outputting as at least a portion of the default output a subsequent prefix object of said at least a portion of the subsequent prefix objects including the selected variant and a character of the number of characters of the input member of the terminal input member actuation as a default subsequent prefix object.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising outputting as at least a portion of the variant output another subsequent prefix object of the number of subsequent prefix objects including the selected variant and another character of the number of characters of the input member of the terminal input member actuation as a first variant output.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising determining that the first variant output is an orphan prefix object for which a corresponding word object of the plurality of word objects cannot be identified, and identifying a word object of the plurality of word objects that corresponds with the default subsequent prefix object.

22. The method of claim 20, further comprising associating with the default subsequent prefix object a first frequency object having a first frequency value, associating with the first variant output a second frequency object having a second frequency value, and determining that the first frequency value is greater than the second frequency value.

23. 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 plurality of language objects including a plurality of word objects and a plurality of n-gram objects, substantially each n-gram object of the plurality of n-gram objects including at least a first character;

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 characters assigned thereto;

the routine being adapted to detect an ambiguous input including a number 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 characters assigned thereto, at least one of the input members of the number of input members having a plurality of characters assigned thereto;

the routine being adapted to generate a number of prefix objects corresponding with the ambiguous input, each prefix object including a number of the characters of the number of the input members of the ambiguous input;

the routine being adapted to generate a first result by, for each prefix object of at least a portion of the number of prefix objects, identifying a word object of the plurality of word objects, the identified word 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 word object and having a frequency value, and associating the frequency value of the associated frequency object with the prefix object;

the routine being adapted to determine that the quantity of prefix objects in the first result is fewer than a predetermined number;

responsive to determining that the quantity of prefix objects in the first result is fewer than a predetermined number, the routine being adapted to provide a second result that includes a number of string objects, substantially each string object of the number of string objects being at least one of an orphan prefix object for which a corresponding word object of the plurality of word objects was not identified and an artificial variant object, substantially each string object of the number of string objects corresponding with at least a portion of the ambiguous input;

the routine being adapted to output an output;

the routine being adapted to output each of at least a portion of the prefix objects of the first result as at least a first portion of the output; and

the routine being adapted to output each of at least a portion of the string objects of the second result as at least a second portion of the output.

24. The handheld electronic device of claim 23, wherein the routine is adapted to output as the output an output that includes a default output and a variant output.

25. The handheld electronic device of claim 24, wherein the routine is adapted to provide the default output as being of a relatively higher priority than the variant output.

26. The handheld electronic device of claim 24, wherein the routine is adapted to output at least a portion of the first result as at least a portion of the default output, and to output at least a portion of the second result as at least a portion of the variant output.

27. The handheld electronic device of claim 24, wherein the routine is adapted to output as the default output a first entry, and output as the variant output a number of additional entries, the quantity of the first entry plus the number of additional entries totaling the predetermined number.

28. The handheld electronic device of claim 24, wherein the routine is adapted to detect as the ambiguous input a number of input member actuations of a number of the input members of the plurality of input members, the number of input member actuations including a prefix input member actuation and a terminal input member actuation, the prefix input member actuation preceding the terminal input member actuation, responsive to the prefix input member actuation, the routine is adapted to:

generate a number of initial prefix objects corresponding with the prefix input member actuation of the ambiguous input, each initial prefix object of the number of initial prefix objects including a number of the characters of the number of the input members of the prefix input member actuation;

generate an initial first result by, for each initial prefix object of at least a portion of the number of initial prefix objects, identifying a word object of the plurality of word objects, the identified word object corresponding with the initial prefix object; and

output as at least a first portion of the default output an initial prefix object of the initial first result as a default initial prefix object;

the routine being adapted to detect as the terminal input member actuation an actuation of an input member having assigned thereto a number of characters, responsive to the terminal input member actuation, the routine is adapted to;

generate a number of subsequent prefix objects corresponding with the prefix input member actuation and the terminal input member actuation, each subsequent prefix object including a number of the characters of the number of the input members of the prefix input member actuation and the input member of the terminal input member actuation, at least a portion of the subsequent prefix objects including the default initial prefix object and a character of the number of characters of the input member of the terminal input member actuation;

determine that substantially each of the subsequent prefix objects of said at least a portion of the subsequent prefix objects including the default initial prefix object and a character of the number of characters of the input member of the terminal input member actuation is an orphan prefix object for which a corresponding word object of the plurality of word objects was not identified; and

provide as at least a portion of the second result at least a first said orphan prefix object as an at least first artificial variant object.

29. The handheld electronic device of claim 28, wherein the routine is adapted to output a said artificial variant object as at least a portion of the output.

30. The handheld electronic device of claim 29, wherein the routine is adapted to output as at least a portion of the output a first said artificial variant object including the default initial prefix object and a character of the number of characters of the input member of the terminal input member actuation, to output as at least a portion of the output a second said artificial variant object including the default initial prefix object and another character of the number of characters of the input member of the terminal input member actuation, to associate with the first artificial variant object a first frequency object of the plurality of frequency objects having a first frequency value, to associate with the second artificial variant object a second frequency object of the plurality of frequency objects having a second frequency value, to determine that one of the first frequency value and the second frequency value is greater than the other of the first frequency value and the second frequency value, to output as at least a portion of the default output whichever of the first artificial variant object and the second artificial variant object with which is associated the one of the first frequency value and the second frequency value, and to output as at least a portion of the variant output whichever of the first artificial variant object and the second artificial variant object with which is associated the other of the first frequency value and the second frequency value.

31. The handheld electronic device of claim 30, wherein the routine is adapted to determine that substantially each of the subsequent prefix objects of the number of subsequent prefix objects is an orphan prefix object.

32. The handheld electronic device of claim 24, wherein the routine is adapted to detect as the ambiguous input a number of input member actuations of a number of the input members of the plurality of input members, the number of input member actuations including a prefix input member actuation and a terminal input member actuation, the prefix input member actuation preceding the terminal input member actuation, responsive to the prefix input member actuation, the routine is adapted to:

generate a number of initial prefix objects corresponding with the prefix input member actuation of the ambiguous input, each initial prefix object of the number of initial prefix objects including a number of the characters of the number of the input members of the prefix input member actuation;

generate an initial first result by, for each initial prefix object of at least a portion of the number of initial prefix objects, identifying a word object of the plurality of word objects, the identified word object corresponding with the initial prefix object; and

output as at least a first portion of the default output an initial prefix object of the initial first result as a default initial prefix object, the word object of the plurality of word objects corresponding with the default initial prefix object being associated with an associated first frequency object of the plurality of frequency objects having a first frequency value;

the routine being adapted to detect as the terminal input member actuation an actuation of an input member having assigned thereto a number of characters, responsive to the terminal input member actuation, the routine is adapted to;

generate a number of subsequent prefix objects corresponding with the prefix input member actuation and the terminal input member actuation, each subsequent prefix object including a number of the characters of the number of the input members of the prefix input member actuation and they input member of the terminal input member actuation;

generate a subsequent first result by, for each subsequent prefix object of at least a portion of the number of subsequent prefix objects, identifying a word object of the plurality of word objects, the identified word object corresponding with the subsequent prefix object;

output as at least a portion of the default output a subsequent prefix object of the subsequent first result as a default subsequent prefix object, the word object of the plurality of word objects corresponding with the default subsequent prefix object being associated with an associated second frequency object of the plurality of frequency objects having a second frequency value, determining that the second frequency value is greater than the first frequency value, the default subsequent prefix object including a default subsequent prefix portion corresponding with the prefix input member actuation and a default subsequent terminal portion corresponding with the terminal input member actuation;

determine that the default subsequent prefix portion of the default subsequent prefix object is different than the default initial prefix object; and

provide as at least a portion of the second result a first artificial variant object including the default initial prefix object and a character of the number of characters of the input member of the terminal input member actuation, and providing as at least another portion of the second result a second artificial variant object including the default initial prefix object and another character of the number of characters of the input member of the terminal input member actuation.

33. The handheld electronic device of claim 32, wherein the routine is adapted to determine that the default subsequent terminal portion corresponds with a character of the number of characters of the input member of the terminal input member actuation, and to provide as at least a portion of the second result a third artificial variant object including the default subsequent prefix portion and another character of the number of characters of the input member of the terminal input member actuation.

34. The handheld electronic device of claim 24, wherein the routine is adapted to detect as the ambiguous input a number of input member actuations of a number of the input members of the plurality of input members, the number of input member actuations including a prefix input member actuation and a terminal input member actuation, the prefix input member actuation preceding the terminal input member actuation, responsive to the prefix input member actuation, the routine is adapted to:

generate a number of initial prefix objects corresponding with the prefix input member actuation of the ambiguous input, each initial prefix object of the number of initial prefix objects including a number of the characters of the number of the input members of the prefix input member actuation;

generate an initial first result by, for each initial prefix object of at least a portion of the number of initial prefix objects, identifying a word object of the plurality of word objects, the identified word object corresponding with the initial prefix object; and

output as at least a first portion of the default output an initial prefix object of the initial first result as a default initial prefix object;

the routine being adapted to detect a selection input as to at least a portion of the variant output to provide a selected variant;

the routine being adapted to detect as the terminal input member actuation an actuation of an input member having assigned thereto a number of characters, responsive to the terminal input member actuation, the routine is adapted to;

generate a number of subsequent prefix objects corresponding with the prefix input member actuation and the terminal input member actuation, each subsequent prefix object of the number of subsequent prefix objects including a number of the characters of the number of the input members of the prefix input member actuation and the terminal input member actuation, each of at least a portion of the subsequent prefix objects of the number of subsequent prefix objects including the selected variant and a character of the number of characters of the input member of the terminal input member actuation; and

output as at least a portion of the default output a subsequent prefix object of said at least a portion of the subsequent prefix objects including the selected variant and a character of the number of characters of the input member of the terminal input member actuation as a default subsequent prefix object.

35. The handheld electronic device of claim 34, wherein the routine is adapted to output as at least a portion of the variant output another subsequent prefix object of the number of subsequent prefix objects including the selected variant and another character of the number of characters of the input member of the terminal input member actuation as a first variant output.

36. The handheld electronic device of claim 35, wherein the routine is adapted to determine that the first variant output is an orphan prefix object for which a corresponding word object of the plurality of word objects cannot be identified, and to identify a word object of the plurality of word objects that corresponds with the default subsequent prefix object.

37. The handheld electronic device of claim 35, wherein the routine is adapted to associate with the default subsequent prefix object a first frequency object having a first frequency value, to associate with the first variant output a second frequency object having a second frequency value, and to determine that the first frequency value is greater than the second frequency value.