Handheld electronic device and method for employing contextual data for disambiguation of text input

• US 8,065,135 B2
• Filed: 04/06/2006
• Issued: 11/22/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/06/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Malikie Innovations Limited (Key Patent Innovations Limited)
• Original Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Inventors: Fux, Vadim
• Primary Examiner(s): YEN, ERIC L
• Application Number:
  US11/399,641
• Publication Number:
  US 20070239425A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,056 Days
• Field of Search: 704 1- 10, 345/168, 341/22, 341/23, 715/810, 715/811
• US Class Current: 704/9
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0237 using prediction or retrieval techniques
• 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

A handheld electronic device includes a reduced QWERTY keyboard and is enabled with disambiguation software that is operable to disambiguate text input. In addition to identifying and outputting representations of language objects that are stored in the memory and that correspond with a text input, the device is able to employ contextual data in certain circumstances to prioritize output.

Claims

1. A method of enabling input into a handheld electronic device including an input apparatus, an output apparatus, and a processor apparatus comprising a memory having stored therein a plurality of objects including a plurality of language objects, a plurality of frequency objects, and a number of contextual values, at least some of the language objects each having associated therewith a frequency object having a frequency value, at least some of the language objects each having associated therewith at least a first contextual value, the input apparatus including a plurality of input members, at least some of the input members each having a plurality of linguistic elements assigned thereto, the method comprising:

detecting a first input;

outputting as a first output an interpretation of the first input;

detecting as a second input an ambiguous input that comprises a number of input member actuations;

determining that a particular language object having associated therewith a particular frequency object having a particular frequency value corresponds with the ambiguous input;

determining that another language object corresponding to the ambiguous input has associated therewith another frequency object having another frequency value, the another frequency value being higher than the particular frequency value;

determining, by the handheld electronic device, that a contextual value associated with the particular language object coincides with at least one of a representation of the first input and a representation of the first output; and

in response to said determining the contextual value, outputting the particular language object as an interpretation of the ambiguous input in a position of preference with respect to a position represented by the particular frequency value.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising employing as the contextual value a representation of one of a word and a punctuation.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising employing as the contextual value a representation of an input in a predetermined format.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising employing as the representation of an input in a predetermined format a representation of the input in one of a date format and a time format.

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising employing as the representation of an input in a predetermined format a representation of the input having a predetermined arrangement of numeric components.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising identifying as the particular language object a language object of a length equal to that of the ambiguous input, and identifying as the another language object a language object of a length equal to that of the ambiguous input.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

outputting as the first output a first language object;

employing as the representation of the first output a hash of the first language object; and

employing as the contextual value a hash of a word.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising detecting as the first input any one or more of a plurality of word inputs that preceded the second input.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating a hash of the first output.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising, responsive to said determining the particular language object and said determining the another language object, initiating said determining the contextual value.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying as the particular language object a word object representative of a relatively lower-frequency ambiguous word;

identifying as the another language object a word object representative of a relatively higher-frequency ambiguous word; and

in response to said determining the contextual value, outputting the lower-frequency ambiguous word at a position of preference with respect to an output position of the higher-frequency ambiguous word.

12. A handheld electronic device comprising an input apparatus, a processor apparatus, and an output apparatus, the input apparatus comprising a number of input members, the processor apparatus comprising a processor and a memory having stored therein a plurality of objects comprising a plurality of language objects, a plurality of frequency objects, and a number of contextual values, at least some of the language objects each having associated therewith a frequency object having a frequency value, at least some of the language objects each having associated therewith at least a first contextual value, the memory having stored therein a number of routines which, when executed by the processor, cause the handheld electronic device to be adapted to perform operations comprising:

detecting a first input and a second input, the second input comprising an ambiguous input that comprises a number of input member actuations;

outputting as a first output an interpretation of the first input;

determining that a particular language object having associated therewith a particular frequency object having a particular frequency value corresponds with the ambiguous input;

determining that another language object corresponding to the ambiguous input has associated therewith another frequency object having another frequency value, the another frequency value being higher than the particular frequency value;

determining, by the handheld electronic device, that a contextual value associated with the particular language object coincides with at least one of a representation of the first input and a representation of the first output; and

in response to said determining the contextual value, outputting the particular language object as an interpretation of the ambiguous input in a position of preference with respect to a position represented by the particular frequency value.

13. The handheld electronic device of claim 12 wherein the operations further comprise employing as the contextual value a representation of one of a word and a punctuation.

14. The handheld electronic device of claim 12 wherein the operations further comprise employing as the contextual value a representation of an input in a predetermined format.

15. The handheld electronic device of claim 14 wherein the operations further comprise employing as the representation of an input in a predetermined format a representation of the input in one of a date format and a time format.

16. The handheld electronic device of claim 14 wherein the operations further comprise employing as the representation of an input in a predetermined format a representation of the input having a predetermined arrangement of numeric components.

17. The handheld electronic device of claim 12 wherein the operations further comprise identifying as the particular language object a language object of a length equal to that of the ambiguous input, and identifying as the another language object a language object of a length equal to that of the ambiguous input.

18. The handheld electronic device of claim 12 wherein the operations further comprise:

outputting as the first output a first language object;

employing as the representation of the first output a hash of the first language object; and

employing as the contextual value a hash of a word.

19. The handheld electronic device of claim 12 wherein the operations further comprise detecting as the first input any one or more of a plurality of word inputs that preceded the second input.

20. The handheld electronic device of claim 12 wherein the operations further comprise generating a hash of the first output.

21. The handheld electronic device of claim 12 wherein the operations further comprise, responsive to said determining the particular language object and said determining the another language object, initiating said determining the contextual value.

22. The handheld electronic device of claim 12 wherein the operations further comprise:

identifying as the particular language object a word object representative of a relatively lower-frequency ambiguous word, and

identifying as the another language object a word object representative of a relatively higher-frequency ambiguous word,

in response to said determining the contextual value, outputting the lower-frequency ambiguous word at a position of preference with respect to an output position of the higher-frequency ambiguous word.