JP2003186608A - Portable communication terminal, character input method, program, and record medium with the program recorded thereon - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a character input device especially suited to a device relatively small like a portable telephone, and having a limited space for arranging character input keys. <P>SOLUTION: A plurality of touch sensors 166a-166d are provided on a surface of a number key 166 of a portable communication terminal 1. Labor and time for operation at inputting characters can be reduced, without additional installation of the number keys 166, as a user can input characters by a sequence contacting the touch sensors 166a-166d (e.g., if the sequence is an upper sensor 168a and then a lower sensor 168c, the character is Hiragana 'a', a Japanese syllabary). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a relatively small character input device such as a mobile phone.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the function of a mobile phone is not limited to a simple phone function, and electronic mail (hereinafter, simply referred to as "mail") can be created and transmitted. When composing an email, it is necessary to enter characters (including alphanumeric characters). Therefore, characters can be input using the dial keys of the mobile phone.

A conventional character input method for a mobile phone will be described with reference to FIG. Dial key 3 of mobile phone 300
A row, a row, a row, ... Are assigned to each of 10. For example, "1" for row A, "2" for row C,
"3" is assigned to the sub-row. The user inputs the character by pressing the key of the line to which the character to be input belongs, the number of times corresponding to the vowel. Press once for vowel a, twice for vowel a, three times for vowel u, four times for vowel d, and five times for vowel o. For example, when inputting “A”, “1” is pressed once, when inputting “I”, “1” is pressed twice, and when inputting “U”, “1” is pressed three times.

The input characters are displayed on the display 320. In the example shown in FIG. 6, the character "aiueo" is input.

[0005]

However, in order to input the character "aiueo" as shown in FIG. 6, "1" is input once ("A") and "1" is input twice ("I"). )), "1" three times ("U"), "1" four times ("E"), and "1" five times ("O"). Moreover, it is necessary to hit a key (for example, "#") to confirm that it is the next character after the completion of hitting one character. Since you enter five characters, you need to type "#" five times. That is, the dial key 310 is pressed twenty times (=
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 5) Must be pressed. This is a complicated task for the user.

If a large number of keys can be arranged like a computer keyboard, the alphabet 1
If each character or one kana character is assigned, the number of key presses can be reduced. However, the mobile phone 300 needs to be easily carried by the user. Here, if the number of dial keys 310 is increased, the mobile phone 300 becomes large and it is difficult to carry. Further, if the number of dial keys 310 is increased without changing the size of the mobile phone 300, the dial keys 310 become small and difficult to press.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a character input device and the like which is particularly suitable for a device such as a mobile phone which is relatively small and has a limited space for arranging character input keys.

[0008]

The present invention relates to a mobile communication terminal. The mobile communication terminal according to the present invention has a key, a contact detection unit, a correspondence recording unit, and an input character determination unit.

A plurality of contact detecting means are provided on the surface of the key to detect the order of contact. The correspondence recording means records the correspondence between the contact sequence detected by the contact detection means and the input character.
The input character determining means determines the input character based on the recorded contents of the correspondence recording means from the contact sequence detected by the contact detecting means.

According to the invention configured as described above, since a character can be input by touching a plurality of contact detecting means provided on the surface of the key, an operation for inputting a character can be performed without adding a key. The labor of can be reduced.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a hardware block diagram showing a configuration of a mobile communication terminal 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
The mobile communication terminal 1 includes an antenna 101 and a duplexer 10.
2, low noise amplifier 110, mixer 111, IF amplifier 1
12, quadrature mixer 113, A / D converter 114, demodulator 115, channel decoder 116, audio decoder 11
7, D / A converter 118, switch amplifier 11
9, speaker 120, microphone 140, amplifier 139, A /
D converter 138, audio encoder 137, channel encoder 136, modulator 135, D / A converter 13
4, quadrature mixer 133, IF amplifier 132, mixer 13
1, power amplifier 130, synthesizer 103, time base 150, CPU 160, RAM 162, ROM 163, EEP
ROM 161, jog dial 164, LCD 165, number key 166, LED 167, touch sensor 168, battery 17
1, a power supply 172, an A / D converter 173, and a vibrator 174.

The antenna 101 transmits and receives signals. The duplexer 102 outputs the signal received by the antenna 101 to the low noise amplifier 110 and outputs the signal output from the power amplifier 130 to the antenna 101. Low noise amplifier 1
The amplifier 10 amplifies the signal input from the duplexer 102 and outputs the amplified signal to the mixer 111. The mixer 111 receives the output of the low noise amplifier 110, separates it by a specific frequency, and outputs it. The IF amplifier 112 amplifies the output of the mixer 111. The quadrature mixer 113 receives the output of the IF amplifier 112 and quadrature demodulates it. The A / D converter 114 is the quadrature mixer 1
Digitize the output of 13. The demodulator 115 demodulates the output of the A / D converter 114. Channel decoder 1
16 performs error correction on the output of the demodulator 115. The error-corrected signal includes a control message and voice data. Control message is CPU 160
Then, the audio data is sent to the audio decoder 117. The audio decoder 117 decodes audio data. The D / A converter 118 converts the output of the audio decoder 117 into an analog signal. Amplifier with switch 119 is CPU1
The switch is turned on by 60, and the output of the D / A converter 118 is amplified. Speaker 120 is an amplifier with switch 1
The output of 19 is amplified.

The microphone 140 receives the transmitted voice and outputs it as an analog signal. The amplifier 139 amplifies the analog signal output from the microphone 140. A / D converter 13
Reference numeral 8 converts the output of the amplifier 139 into a digital signal. The voice encoder 137 encodes the output of the A / D converter 138, compresses it, and outputs it as voice data. The channel encoder 136 combines the control message from the CPU 160 and the audio data from the audio encoder 137 and adds an error correction code. The modulator 135 modulates the output of the channel encoder 136. The D / A converter 134 converts the output of the modulator 135 into an analog signal. The quadrature mixer 133 converts the output of the D / A converter 134 into an IF frequency signal (intermediate frequency signal). The IF amplifier 132 amplifies the output of the quadrature mixer 133. The mixer 131 raises the frequency of the signal output from the IF amplifier 132. The power amplifier 130 amplifies the output of the mixer 131.

During the communication, the synthesizer 103
The mixer 111, the quadrature mixer 113, the mixer 131, and the quadrature mixer 133 are synchronized. The time base 150 supplies a clock signal to each unit.

The CPU 160 controls each section. RAM 162
Is used as a working memory of the CPU 160. A program for the CPU 160 is recorded in the ROM 163. Data such as a speed dial is recorded in the EEPROM 161. The jog dial 164 is an input device that is input by being rotated by the user. LCD
Reference numeral 165 is a display for showing a message or input characters to the user. The number key 166 is a key for inputting numbers “0” to “9”, “#” and the like. The LED 167 is for transmitting a message to the user by turning on and off. Touch sensor 16
8 detects that the user's finger has touched. The touch sensor 168 may detect the fingerprint of the user.

The battery 171 supplies electric power to the power source 172 and the A / D converter 173. The power source 172 is the power source of the mobile communication terminal 1. The A / D converter 173 converts the signal to C
Supply to PU160. The vibrator 174 is a device that notifies an incoming call and vibrates when an incoming call is received.

FIG. 2 is a view showing the outer appearance of the mobile communication terminal 1. As shown in FIG. 2A, the mobile communication terminal 1 has a housing 201. The antenna 101 is arranged on the top of the housing 201. The speaker 120 is arranged on the top of the housing 201. The LCD 165 is arranged below the speaker 120. The number key 166 is arranged below the LCD 165. The microphone 140 is arranged at the bottom of the housing 201. The jog dial 164 is arranged on the left side of the LCD 165. Note that the input character number keys 166 are assigned a row, a row, a row, ... For example, "1" for row A, "2" for row K, and "3" for row SA
Are assigned.

FIG. 2B is an enlarged view of the number key 166. A plurality of touch sensors 168a, 168b, 168c, 168d are provided on the surface of the number key 166. The plurality of touch sensors 168a to 168d detect contact. The touch sensor (upper sensor) 168a is located above the number key 166, and the touch sensor (right sensor) 1
68b is disposed to the right of the number key 166, the touch sensor (lower sensor) 168c is disposed below the number key 166, and the touch sensor (left sensor) 168d is disposed to the left of the number key 166. In addition, the touch sensors 168a to 168.
The d may detect a fingerprint when detecting a contact.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the mobile communication terminal 1. The mobile communication terminal 1 has a number key 16
6, touch sensor 168, LCD165, corresponding recording unit 1
0, the input character determination unit 20 is provided. The number keys 166 and the touch sensor 168 are as described above.

The correspondence recording unit 10 records the correspondence between the contact sequence detected by the touch sensor 168 and the input character. Figure 4
An example of the recorded contents of the correspondence recording unit 10 is shown in FIG. There are various kinds of recorded contents, and FIG. 4 shows two kinds (FIGS. 4A and 4B). Note that the example of FIG. 4 is for the “1” key (A row assignment) of the number keys 166. The same applies to the "2" key (power row assignment) and the "3" key (service row assignment). For example,
For the key “2”, the input vowel “A” corresponds to the input character “KA”, the input vowel “I” corresponds to the input character “KI”, and the input vowel “U” corresponds to the input character “KU”.

In the example of FIG. 4A, in order to input the input character "A", it is sufficient to touch the touch sensor (upper sensor) 168a and then touch the touch sensor (lower sensor) 168c. In the example of FIG. 4B, in order to input the input character “A”, it suffices to contact the touch sensor (upper sensor) 168a and then the touch sensor (left sensor) 168d.

When inputting "aiueo", in the example of FIG. 4A, the touch sensor 168 may be touched twelve times (= 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 4). In the example of FIG. 4B, the touch sensor 168 may be touched ten times (= 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2).

The correspondence recording section 10 may record the correspondence between the order in which the touch sensor 168 detects a touch and the input character for each user. For example, the user A may have the recorded contents as shown in FIG. 4A, and the user B may have the recorded contents as shown in FIG. 4B.

The input character determination unit 20 uses the touch sensor 16
The input character is determined based on the recorded contents of the correspondence recording unit 10 from the detected contact sequence of 8. For example, the recorded content of the correspondence recording unit 10 is the recorded content as shown in FIG.
If the touch sensor (upper sensor) 168a of the “1” key of the number keys 166 is touched and then the touch sensor (lower sensor) 168c is touched, “a” is input.

When the correspondence recording unit 10 records the correspondence between the order in which the touch sensor 168 detects contact for each user and the input character, the input character determination unit 20 applies the fingerprint detected by the touch sensor 168. The user is determined based on Then, the input character is determined based on the recorded contents of the correspondence recording unit 10 corresponding to the user.

Further, the input character determination unit 20 uses the number key 1
The first key pressed in 66 is a predetermined key (for example,
If it is "0"), the decision of the input character is canceled. In this case, the input is a general number. The telephone number is entered numerically, but the telephone number generally starts with "0". Therefore, if "0" is pressed first, there is a high possibility of inputting a telephone number by a numeral, so it is better not to determine the input character.

The LCD 165 displays the input character determined by the input character determination unit 20. However, when the input character is not decided, the input number is displayed.

Next, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, the user presses the number key 166. The input character determination unit 20 uses a predetermined number key (for example,
It is determined whether "0") has been pressed (S10). If the predetermined number key (for example, "0") is not pressed (S10, NO), the touch sensor 168 detects the contact sequence (S12). Then, the input character determination unit 20 determines the correspondence recording unit 10 based on the contact order detected by the touch sensor 168.
The input character is determined based on the recorded contents of (S14). Then, the input character is displayed on the LCD 165 (S30).

A predetermined number key (for example, "0")
If is pressed (S10, YES), the input character determination unit 20 does not determine the input character, and the input number is determined by the pressed number key 166 (S20), and the LCD 1
It is displayed at 65 (S30).

According to an embodiment of the invention, the number key 16
Since a character can be input by touching a plurality of touch sensors 168 provided on the surface of No. 6, it is possible to reduce the time and effort required for inputting characters without adding the number key 166.

Moreover, the touch sensor 168 detects a fingerprint, and the user is identified based on this fingerprint. Furthermore, the correspondence recording unit 10 records the correspondence between the order in which the touch sensor 168 detects a contact and the input character for each user. Therefore, the input character can be determined based on the recorded content of the correspondence recording unit 10 corresponding to the user.

Further, the input character determination unit 20 uses the number key 1
The first key pressed in 66 is a predetermined key (for example,
If it is "0"), the decision of the input character is canceled. The telephone number is entered numerically, but the telephone number generally starts with "0". Therefore, if "0" is pressed first,
It is highly likely that you will enter a phone number using numbers. In such a case, since the input character is not determined, it is possible to switch between character input and numeric input suitable for the user.

The above embodiment can be realized as follows. CPU, hard disk, flash memory, media (floppy (registered trademark) disk, C
A medium reading device of a computer equipped with a reading device (D-ROM, memory stick, etc.) is made to read the medium in which the program realizing each of the above-mentioned parts (corresponding recording unit 10, input character determination unit 20, etc.) is read,
Install on a hard disk, flash memory, etc. Even with such a method, the above function can be realized.

[0036]

According to the present invention, since a character can be input by touching a plurality of touch detection means provided on the surface of the key, the labor of inputting characters can be reduced without adding a key. can do.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a hardware block diagram showing a configuration of a mobile communication terminal 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an appearance of the mobile communication terminal 1, and is a front view of the mobile communication terminal 1 (FIG. 2A) and an enlarged view of a number key 166 (FIG. 2B).

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the mobile communication terminal 1.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of recorded contents of a correspondence recording unit 10.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a character input method of a conventional mobile phone.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Mobile communication terminal 10 Correspondence recording part 20 Input character determination unit 165 LCD 166 number key 168 Touch sensor

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Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A key, a plurality of contact detection means provided on the surface of the key for detecting a contact sequence, and a correspondence recording means for recording a correspondence between the contact sequence detected by the contact detection means and an input character. A mobile communication terminal comprising: an input character determining unit that determines an input character based on the recorded content of the correspondence recording unit from the contact sequence detected by the contact detecting unit. 2. The mobile communication terminal according to claim 1, wherein A mobile communication terminal in which the contact detection means detects a fingerprint. 3. The mobile communication terminal according to claim 2, wherein the correspondence recording unit records a correspondence between a contact sequence detected by the contact detection unit and an input character for each user, and the input character is determined. The means reads the recorded content of the correspondence recording means according to the fingerprint detected by the contact detection means, and is a portable communication terminal. 4. The mobile communication terminal according to claim 1, wherein If any of the above keys is pressed first, Does not determine the input character, Mobile communication terminal. 5. A character input method in a mobile communication terminal having a key and a plurality of contact detection means provided on the surface of the key to detect the contact order, wherein the contact order detected by the contact detection means and an input character A character input method comprising: a correspondence recording step of recording a correspondence; and an input character determination step of determining an input character based on the recorded contents of the correspondence recording step from the contact sequence detected by the contact detection means. 6. A program for causing a computer to execute a character input process in a mobile communication terminal having a key and a plurality of contact detecting means provided on the surface of the key for detecting a contact order, wherein the contact detecting means detects the character input processing. A computer is provided with a correspondence recording process for recording the correspondence between the touched order and the input character, and an input character determination process for determining the input character based on the recorded contents of the correspondence recording step from the touching order detected by the touch detection means. A program to run. 7. A computer-readable recording medium in which a program for causing a computer to execute a character input process in a mobile communication terminal having a key and a plurality of contact detection means provided on the surface of the key to detect a contact sequence is recorded. The correspondence recording process for recording the correspondence between the contact sequence detected by the contact detection unit and the input character, and the input character is determined based on the recorded content of the correspondence recording step from the contact sequence detected by the contact detection unit. A computer-readable recording medium in which a program for causing a computer to execute the input character determination process is recorded.