Handheld electronic device and method for disambiguation of text input providing artificial variants comprised of characters in a core alphabet

• US 8,370,125 B2
• Filed: 01/13/2006
• Issued: 02/05/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 01/13/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Malikie Innovations Limited (Key Patent Innovations Limited)
• Original Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Inventors: Fux, Vadim, Rubanovich, Dan
• Primary Examiner(s): Desir, Pierre-Louis
• Assistant Examiner(s): BAKER, MATTHEW H
• Application Number:
  US11/331,817
• Publication Number:
  US 20070168366A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,580 Days
• Field of Search: 707/100, 455/556.2, 704/3, 400/109, 400/168, 400/169, 400/171, 400/172, 400/472, 715/262
• US Class Current: 704/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0219 Special purpose keyboards
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0237 using prediction or retrieval techniques
• 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 generate artificial variants in certain circumstances. The artificial variants comprise characters within a core alphabet of the device and are free of extended characters that may otherwise be active on the device.

Claims

1. A method of enabling input into a handheld electronic device of a type including an input apparatus, an output apparatus, and a memory having stored therein an alphabet and a plurality of language objects, the alphabet comprising a core alphabet, an extended alphabet, and a plurality of linguistic elements, the core alphabet comprising at least some of the linguistic elements, the extended alphabet comprising at least a first linguistic element not in the core alphabet, the language objects each comprising a number of the linguistic elements, the input apparatus including a plurality of input members, at least some of the input members each having a plurality of the linguistic elements assigned thereto, the method comprising:

storing the core alphabet in a static portion of the memory;

storing the extended alphabet in a modifiable portion of the memory;

detecting as an ambiguous input a number of actuations of a number of input members including a particular input member having assigned thereto the at least first linguistic element and at least one linguistic element in the core alphabet;

producing a number of prefix objects each including a number of the linguistic elements of the ambiguous input, at least some of the prefix objects comprising the at least first linguistic element;

for each of at least some of the prefix objects, seeking a word object corresponding with the prefix object;

determining if a selection flag has been set based on a previous selection of a default prefix object;

generating after determining the selection flag has been set, from the static portion of the memory, as a number of artificial variants a number of objects for which a corresponding word object does not exist, and each comprising a linguistic element of each input member of the ambiguous input;

employing in said generating fewer than all of the linguistic elements assigned to the particular input member; and

outputting at least two of the number of artificial variants that are formed only of characters that are found in the core alphabet.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising employing as said fewer than all of the linguistic elements the at least one linguistic element.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising employing as said fewer than all of the linguistic elements each linguistic element in the core alphabet that is assigned to the particular input member.

4. A handheld electronic device comprising:

an input apparatus comprising a plurality of input members, at least some of the input members each having a plurality of linguistic elements assigned thereto;

a processor apparatus comprising a processor and a memory, the memory having stored therein an alphabet and a plurality of language objects, the alphabet comprising a core alphabet stored in a static portion of the memory, an extended alphabet stored in a modifiable portion of the memory, and a plurality of linguistic elements, the core alphabet comprising at least some of the linguistic elements, the extended alphabet comprising at least a first linguistic element not in the core alphabet, the language objects each comprising a number of the linguistic elements, the processor apparatus being structured to detect as an ambiguous input a number of actuations of a number of input members including an input member having assigned thereto the at least first linguistic element and at least one linguistic element in the core alphabet, and being further structured to produce a number of prefix objects each including a number of the linguistic elements of the ambiguous input, at least some of the prefix objects comprising the at least first linguistic element;

an output apparatus being structured to output artificial variants that are formed only of characters that are found in the core alphabet;

for each of at least some of the prefix objects, the processor apparatus being structured to seek a word object corresponding with the prefix object;

the processor apparatus configured to determine if a selection flag has been set based on a previous selection of a default prefix object;

the processor apparatus being structured to generate after determining the selection flag has been set, from the static portion of the memory, as a number of artificial variants a number of objects for which a corresponding word object does not exist and each comprising a linguistic element of each input member of the ambiguous input formed only of characters that are found in the core alphabet, and being further structured to employ in said generating fewer than all of the linguistic elements assigned to the particular input member.

5. The handheld electronic device of claim 4, wherein the processor apparatus is structured to employ as said fewer than all of the linguistic elements the at least one linguistic element.

6. The handheld electronic device of claim 4, wherein the processor apparatus is structured to employ as said fewer than all of the linguistic

elements each linguistic element in the core alphabet that is assigned to the particular input member.