Handheld electronic device with text disambiguation

• US 20060044277A1
• Filed: 08/31/2004
• Published: 03/02/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/2004
• 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
• Granted Patent: US 7,477,238 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/168
• 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. 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 disambiguating an input into a handheld electronic device, the handheld electronic device including an input apparatus, an output apparatus, and a processor apparatus, the processor apparatus including a processor 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 memory including a first data source and a second data source, the first data source including a number of language object of the plurality of language objects and a number of associated frequency objects of the plurality of frequency objects, the second data source including a number of language object of the plurality of language objects and a number of associated frequency objects 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 characters assigned thereto, the method comprising:

detecting an ambiguous input into an input field, the 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 of the number of prefix objects including a number of the characters of the number of the input members of the ambiguous input;

determining that the input field is a special input field;

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

generating a primary result by, for each prefix object of at least a portion of the number of prefix objects, identifying in the first data source a word object of the number of word objects, the identified word object corresponding with the prefix object, obtaining from the first data source an associated frequency object of the number 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;

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

making a determination that the quantity of the prefix objects in the primary output set is less than a predetermined quantity;

responsive to said determination;

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

generating a secondary result by, for each prefix object of at least a portion of the number of prefix objects, identifying in the second data source a word object of the number of word objects, the identified word object corresponding with the prefix object, obtaining from the second data source an associated frequency object of the number 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;

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

outputting an output including at least a portion of the prefix objects of the primary output set and at least a portion of the prefix objects of the secondary output set.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising, responsive to said determining that the input field is a special input field, determining that the first data source should be analyzed substantially before any other data source in obtaining frequency objects.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising outputting as the output the prefix objects of the primary output set organized in descending order of frequency value and at least a portion of the prefix objects of the secondary output set organized in descending order of frequency value.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising outputting in the output the prefix objects of the primary output set as having associated therewith higher frequency values than any of the prefix objects of the secondary output set.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the plurality of language objects include 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, and further comprising determining that the primary result and the secondary result include a quantity of prefix objects, determining that the quantity of prefix objects in the primary result and the secondary result is fewer than a predetermined quantity, and adding as an orphan prefix object to the output at a position corresponding with a relatively low frequency a prefix object of the number of prefix objects for which a corresponding word object of the plurality of word objects was not identified.

6. A method of disambiguating an input into a handheld electronic device, the handheld electronic device including an input apparatus, an output apparatus, and a processor apparatus, the processor apparatus including a processor 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 memory including a plurality of data sources, each data source of the plurality of data sources including a number of language object of the plurality of language objects and a number of associated frequency objects 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 characters assigned thereto, the method comprising:

detecting an ambiguous input into an input field, the 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 of the number of prefix objects including a number of the characters of the number of the input members of the ambiguous input;

determining that the input field is a special input field; and

responsive to said determining that the input field is a special input field, identifying a predetermined data source from the plurality of data sources for analysis substantially prior to analysis of the other data sources of the plurality of data sources to obtain a proposed disambiguation result.

7. The method claim 6, further comprising:

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

generating a primary result by, for each prefix object of at least a portion of the number of prefix objects, identifying in the predetermined data source a word object of the number of word objects, the identified word object corresponding with the prefix object, obtaining from the predetermined data source an associated frequency object of the number 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; and

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

outputting an output including at least a portion of the prefix objects of the primary output set.

8. The method claim 7, further comprising:

making a determination that the quantity of the prefix objects in the primary output set is less than a predetermined quantity; and

responsive to said determination;

for each prefix object of at least a portion of the number of prefix objects, seeking in the data sources other than the predetermined data source a corresponding language object of the plurality of language objects that corresponds with the prefix object;

generating a secondary result by, for each prefix object of at least a portion of the number of prefix objects, identifying in the data sources other than the second data source a word object of the number of word objects, the identified word object corresponding with the prefix object, obtaining from the data sources other than the second data source an associated frequency object of the number 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;

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

outputting as the output at least a portion of the prefix objects of the secondary output set.

9. The method claim 8 wherein the plurality of language objects include 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, and further comprising determining that the primary result and the secondary result include a quantity of prefix objects, determining that the quantity of prefix objects in the primary result and the secondary result is fewer than a predetermined quantity, and adding as an orphan prefix object to the output at a position corresponding with a relatively low frequency a prefix object of the number of prefix objects for which a corresponding word object of the plurality of word objects was not identified.

10. The method claim 7, further comprising outputting as the output the at least a portion of the prefix objects of the primary output set as having relatively higher frequency values associated therewith than any of the at least a portion of the prefix objects of the secondary output set.

11. A handheld electronic device comprising:

an input apparatus;

an output apparatus; and

a processor apparatus;

the processor apparatus including a processor 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 memory including a plurality of data sources, each data source of the plurality of data sources including a number of language object of the plurality of language objects and a number of associated frequency objects 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 characters assigned thereto;

the processor apparatus being adapted to detect an ambiguous input into an input field, the 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 processor apparatus 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 number of the characters of the number of the input members of the ambiguous input;

the processor apparatus being adapted to determine that the input field is a special input field; and

responsive to said determining that the input field is a special input field, the processor apparatus being adapted to identify a predetermined data source from the plurality of data sources for analysis substantially prior to analysis of the other data sources of the plurality of data sources to obtain a proposed disambiguation result.