Disambiguating ambiguous characters

• US 7,966,003 B2
• Filed: 07/11/2005
• Issued: 06/21/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 07/09/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: AOL LLC (Apollo Global Management, Inc.), Nuance Communications, Inc. (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Tegic Communications, Inc. (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Kay, David J., Van Meurs, Pim, Bradford, Ethan R., Longe, Michael R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Eng; George
• Assistant Examiner(s): KIM, WESLEY LEO
• Application Number:
  US11/177,477
• Publication Number:
  US 20060013487A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,171 Days
• Field of Search: 455/414.1, 4554561-4566, 455/414.3, 455/414.4, 707 1- 4, 707759-769, 709/230, 709/231
• US Class Current: 455/414.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/335 Filtering based on additional data, e.g. user or group profiles filtering in web context G06F16/9535, G06F16/9536
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/232 Orthographic correction, e.g. spell checking or vowelisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/274 Converting codes to words; Guess-ahead of partial word inputs

Abstract

In one general sense, information may be presented to a user by receiving one or more ambiguous characters that may be resolved to one of at least two disambiguated characters, exchanging at least one of the ambiguous characters with a host, receiving, from the host, results that reflect disambiguated terms related to the ambiguous characters exchanged with the host, rendering the results in a manner enabling the user to perceive which of the disambiguated terms will be used upon user selection of an aspect of the results, and enabling the user to select an aspect of the results to effect use of a corresponding one of the disambiguated terms.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of presenting information to a user in which a computer system initiates execution of software instructions stored in memory, the computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving one or more ambiguous characters via a reduced-entry keypad of a wireless phone, the one or more ambiguous characters received as a sequence of numbers input through the reduced-entry keypad as part of a keyword search, each respective ambiguous character being a number that may be resolved to one of at least two disambiguated characters;

exchanging at least one of the ambiguous characters with a host by transmitting the sequence of numbers across a wireless network, the host being a server separate from the wireless phone;

receiving, from the host, results that reflect disambiguated terms as part of search results related to the ambiguous characters exchanged with the host;

rendering the results in a display of the wireless phone to enable identification of which of the disambiguated terms will be used upon a received selection of an aspect of the results;

enabling selection of the aspect of the results to effect use of a corresponding one of the disambiguated terms; and

wherein exchanging the at least one of the ambiguous characters with the host includes;

correlating information learned about the user entering the sequence of numbers, the information learned including metadata tags stored in a profile associated with the user, and geographical location information identifying a geographical location of the wireless phone;

modifying the sequence of numbers to instruct the host to return results relating to the information learned about the user;

analyzing the sequence of numbers using geographical location information identifying a geographical location of the wireless phone; and

correlating results from a previous search with known metadata tags for a given term of interest.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:

enabling the user to enter a special character;

using the special character to select a subset from within the results;

rendering the subset; and

wherein enabling the user to enter the special character includes enabling the user to select a “

#”

key, a “

*”

key, or an arrow button as a mechanism to effect selection of the subset.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:

analyzing the one or more ambiguous characters before exchanging the at least one of the ambiguous characters with the host;

rendering the results in response to analyzing the at least one of the ambiguous characters;

enabling the user to interact with the results; and

as a result of user interaction with the results, exchanging at least some of the ambiguous characters with the host to update the results.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining if a threshold number of ambiguous characters has been received; and

exchanging the ambiguous characters upon receipt of the threshold number of ambiguous characters.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4 further comprising:

determining if an updated threshold of updated ambiguous characters has been received;

exchanging the updated ambiguous characters upon receipt of the updated threshold of ambiguous characters;

receiving updated results from the host; and

rendering the updated results.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 4 wherein establishing communications with the host includes activating an inactive communications channel.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 4 wherein establishing communications with the host includes accessing an active communications channel.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 4 further comprising:

establishing communications with the host upon receipt of the threshold number of ambiguous characters; and

exchanging the ambiguous characters when communications have been established.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 4 further comprising:

establishing communications with the host upon receipt of the threshold number of ambiguous characters and nonambiguous characters; and

exchanging the ambiguous characters and the nonambiguous characters when communications have been established.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein receiving the one or more ambiguous characters includes:

receiving the one or more ambiguous characters in a keyword retrieval field of a web browser application;

wherein rendering the results includes displaying a drop down window adjacent to the keyword retrieval field while the user inputs the ambiguous characters, the drop down window displaying likely results for the ambiguous characters;

updating the displayed likely results upon receiving additional ambiguous characters from the user; and

retrieving similar results related to the predicted meaning of the disambiguated terms.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving nonambiguous characters; and

exchanging nonambiguous characters with the host.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein receiving the ambiguous characters includes receiving only ambiguous characters.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein receiving the ambiguous characters includes receiving handwritten input resulting from a handwriting recognition system.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein receiving the ambiguous characters includes receiving an indication of a handwritten stroke in an ideographic language.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

analyzing the ambiguous characters;

based on analysis of the ambiguous characters, generating results that identify several user applications that are related to the ambiguous characters;

rendering the results in a manner enabling the user to perceive which one of the several user applications will be launched in response to user selection of a corresponding aspect of the results; and

enabling the user to select one aspect of the results to effect a launch of the user application corresponding to the selected aspect of the results.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 15 further comprising:

using a wireless phone with a reduced-entry keypad to enter the one or more ambiguous characters;

relating the ambiguous characters to disambiguated terms and identifying the several user applications based on the disambiguated terms;

rendering the results in a display on the wireless phone with an indication of an application that will be launched upon user selection of the aspect of the results corresponding to the user application; and

enabling the user to use a reduced-entry keypad of the wireless phone to select one aspect of the results corresponding to one of the several user applications.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 16 further comprising:

based upon the one or more received ambiguous characters, identifying a first corresponding disambiguated result that is attainable through invocation of a browser application;

based upon the one or more received ambiguous characters, identifying a second corresponding disambiguated result that is attainable through invocation of a directory service application;

rendering the first corresponding disambiguated result and the second corresponding disambiguated result; and

enabling selection by the user of the first corresponding result or the second corresponding result.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 17 wherein identifying the first corresponding disambiguated result that is attainable through invocation of the browser application includes identifying the first corresponding disambiguated result that is attainable through invocation of a browser application that is configured to render content using a markup language other than a Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML).

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 17 further comprising:

wherein identifying the first corresponding disambiguated result that is attainable through invocation of the browser application includes enabling the user to access different applications through the browser application; and

wherein enabling the user to access the different applications through the browsing application includes enabling the user to access at least one of a mapping service, a web browsing service, an advertising service, an instant messaging service, and an email service.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 16 wherein rendering the results in a display on the wireless phone with the indication of the application includes rendering the results with an icon representative of the application.

21. The computer-implemented method of claim 15 further comprising relating the ambiguous characters to disambiguated terms and identifying the several user applications based on the disambiguated terms.

22. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein exchanging the at least one of the ambiguous characters with the host includes:

exchanging the sequence of numbers upon receiving an amount of numbers in the sequence that meets an initial predetermined threshold amount of numbers; and

exchanging subsequently received numbers, received as part of the sequence of numbers, after receiving an amount of the subsequently received numbers above a second predetermined threshold amount of numbers.

23. The computer-implemented method of claim 22, wherein exchanging the at least one of the ambiguous characters with the host includes:

transmitting updates to the host upon receiving the subsequently received numbers, and the transmitting occurring after detecting that user inactivity in entering the sequence of numbers exceeds a predetermined period of time.

24. The computer-implemented method of claim 22, wherein exchanging the at least one of the ambiguous characters with the host includes:

sending the subsequently received numbers to the host without resending previously sent numbers of the sequence of numbers, and without receiving a completion input from the user that indicates a completion of the sequence of numbers;

upon receiving the subsequently received numbers in the sequence of numbers, and without receiving the completion input, determining that no relevant results exist; and

upon determining that no relevant results exist, the host interfacing with the client to notify that that no relevant results exist and to prevent additional updates from being exchanged.

25. The computer-implemented method of claim 24, further comprising:

rendering word stems of potential results, and

presenting an interface for the user to step through likely word stems and to select a given word stem.

26. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein rendering the results includes displaying search results with identified word stems displayed as bold text within the search results.

27. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

rendering word stems of potential results, and

presenting an interface that enables viewing and selection of likely word stems and to select a given word stem.

28. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein exchanging the at least one of the ambiguous characters with the host includes:

exchanging the sequence of numbers upon receiving an amount of numbers in the sequence that meets an initial predetermined threshold amount of numbers;

exchanging subsequently received numbers, received as part of the sequence of numbers, after receiving an amount of the subsequently received numbers above a second predetermined threshold amount of numbers;

sending the subsequently received numbers to the host without resending previously sent numbers of the sequence of numbers, and without receiving a completion input from the user that indicates a completion of the sequence of numbers;

upon receiving the subsequently received numbers in the sequence of numbers, and without receiving the completion input, determining that no relevant results exist; and

upon determining that no relevant results exist, the host interfacing with the client to indicate that that no relevant results exist.

29. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein exchanging the at least one of the ambiguous characters with the host includes:

exchanging the sequence of numbers upon receiving an amount of numbers in the sequence that meets an initial predetermined threshold amount of numbers; and

exchanging subsequently received numbers, received as part of the sequence of numbers, after receiving input indicating that results rendered in the display of the wireless phone have been cycled through, for possible selection, more than a predetermined threshold number of times.

30. A computer program on a non-transitory computer storage medium configured to present information on a display of a device to a user, the computer program comprising:

an input code segment structured and arranged to receive, through use of one or more keys of the device, one or more ambiguous characters via a reduced-entry keypad of a wireless phone, the one or more ambiguous characters received as a sequence of numbers input through the reduced-entry keypad as part of a keyword search, each respective ambiguous character being a number that may be resolved to one of at least two disambiguated characters;

an exchanging code segment structured and arranged to exchange at least one of the ambiguous characters with a host by transmitting a sequence of numbers across a wireless network, the host being a server separate from the wireless phone, the exchanging code segment further structured and arranged to;

correlate information learned about the user entering the sequence of numbers, the information learned including metadata tags stored in a profile associated with the user, and geographical location information identifying a geographical location of the wireless phone;

modify the sequence of numbers to instruct the host to return results relating to the information learned about the user;

analyze the sequence of numbers using geographical location information identifying a geographical location of the wireless phone; and

correlate results from a previous search with known metadata tags for a given term of interest;

a receiving code segment structured and arranged to receive, from the host, results that reflect disambiguated terms as part of search results related to the ambiguous characters exchanged with the host;

a rendering code segment structured and arranged to render, using the display of the device, the results in a display of the wireless phone to enable identification of which of the disambiguated terms will be used upon a received selection of an aspect of the results; and

an enabling code segment structured and arranged to enable selection of, through use of the one or more keys of the device, the aspect of the results to effect use of a corresponding one of the disambiguated terms.

31. A computer-implemented method of presenting information to a user in which a computer system initiates execution of software instructions stored in memory, the computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving one or more ambiguous characters via a reduced-entry keypad of a wireless phone, the one or more ambiguous characters received as a sequence of numbers input through the reduced-entry keypad as part of a keyword search, each respective ambiguous character being a number that may be resolved to one of at least two disambiguated characters;

exchanging at least one of the ambiguous characters with a host by transmitting the sequence of numbers across a wireless network, the host being a server separate from the wireless phone;

receiving, from the host, results that reflect disambiguated terms as part of search results related to the ambiguous characters exchanged with the host;

rendering the results in a display of the wireless phone to enable identification of which of the disambiguated terms will be used upon a received selection of an aspect of the results;

enabling selection of the aspect of the results to effect use of a corresponding one of the disambiguated terms; and

wherein exchanging the at least one of the ambiguous characters with the host includes;

exchanging the sequence of numbers upon receiving an amount of numbers in the sequence that meets an initial predetermined threshold amount of numbers; and

exchanging subsequently received numbers, received as part of the sequence of numbers, after receiving input indicating that results rendered in the display of the wireless phone have been cycled through, for possible selection, more than a predetermined threshold number of times.

32. The computer-implemented method of claim 31, further comprising:

rendering word stems of potential results, and

presenting an interface that enables viewing and selection of likely word stems and to select a given word stem.

33. The computer-implemented method of claim 31, wherein exchanging the at least one of the ambiguous characters with the host includes:

transmitting updates to the host upon receiving the subsequently received numbers, the transmitting occurring after detecting that user inactivity in entering the sequence of numbers exceeds a predetermined period of time.

34. The computer-implemented method of claim 31, further comprising:

analyzing the ambiguous characters;

based on analysis of the ambiguous characters, generating results that identify several user applications that are related to the ambiguous characters;

rendering the results in a manner enabling the user to perceive which one of the several user applications will be launched in response to user selection of a corresponding aspect of the results; and

enabling the user to select one aspect of the results to effect a launch of the user application corresponding to the selected aspect of the results.